They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso, and in south-central Mali, northeastern Ivory Coast, the northern halves of Ghana and Togo, northwestern Benin, and southwestern Niger.

Additionally, a single Gur language, Baatonum, is spoken in Benin and in the extreme northwest of Nigeria.

In addition, Kulango, Loma and Lorhon, are spoken in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

Notably, he correctly identified these languages as being related to one another; his 'North-Eastern High Sudan' corresponds to Gur in modern classification.The Gur family was previously called Voltaic, following the French name (langues) Voltaïques (named after the Volta River).

He proposes that early Gur-Adamawa speakers had cultivated guinea corn and millet in a wooded savanna environment.

[6] Bodomo divides Mabia into three primary branches, namely West, East, and Central.