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People group profile · PG016341

The Saramaccan of French Guiana

The Saramaccan of French Guiana, numbering about 6,300 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Maroon people descended from Africans who escaped Dutch plantation slavery in Suriname in the 17th-18th centuries and won an 1762 freedom treaty a century before emancipation, roughly 30 percent now living as migrants in French Guiana.

They are an indigenous people in the Afro-American people cluster of the North American Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion, and they primarily speak Saramaccan.

Pray for the SaramaccanPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Saramaccan people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Saramaccan

Fast facts

Country
French Guiana
Population
6,300
Affinity group
American Peoples
People cluster
Afro-American
Primary language
Saramaccan (srm)
Primary religion
Ethnoreligion
Strategic Progress Index ?
No Longer Unreached
Evangelical
2% or Greater but Less than 5%
GSEC ?
2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
Lostness priority ?
Marginally Reached People Group
Region
South America, Americas

Where they live

Gospel status

The Saramaccan are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Saramaccan

  • Pray for the churches among this group to grow in faithfulness and maturity
  • Equip believers to reach the unreached peoples around them
  • Send out laborers from this people to the nations

Primary religion

Ethnoreligion

Primary language

Saramaccan · Indo-European family

100% speak Saramaccan

Gospel resources in Saramaccan

  • Bible available
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Bibles

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Saramaccan

  1. Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
  2. Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
  3. John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
  4. Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.

Download a prayer guide

Saramaccan in other countries

The same people is also reported in 1 other country.

People groupCountryPopulationStatus
SaramaccanSuriname36,000No Longer Unreached

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