Kyrgyzstan people groups, languages and religions

People Groups Unreached

21 (84.0%)

People Groups Unreached Frontier

14 (56.0%)

Population
Total

7,360,000

Population in Unreached

7,074,000 (96.1%)

Population in Unreached Frontier

5,911,000 (80.3%)

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
People Group	Population this Ctry	Population Global	Count Ctrys	Indigenous	Primary Language	Primary Religion	Progress Scale	% Evangelical Range	% Christian Adh Range	Workers Needed *
Arab, Uzbeki	500	35,000	7		Arabic, Uzbeki	Islam	2	-1 Unknown	10-50% ●	-1 -
Azerbaijani	18,000	10,386,000	13		Azerbaijani, North	Islam	1	0-0.1% ●	0.1-2% ●	1
Balkar	1,500	126,000	5		Karachay-Balkar	Islam	1	0-0.1% ●	2-5% ●	1
Dargin	2,600	443,000	5		Dargwa	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Deaf	32,000	27,763,000	164	●	Russian Sign Language	Unknown	1	-1 Unknown	0.1-2% ●	1
Dungan	70,000	174,000	5	●	Dungan	Islam	1	0.1-2% ●	0.1-2% ●	1
Hemshin	1,300	156,000	3		Armenian, Western	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Kalmyk-Oirat	5,700	523,000	4		Kalmyk-Oirat	Buddhism	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Karachay	1,900	336,000	4		Karachay-Balkar	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Kazakh	29,000	18,109,000	16		Kazakh	Islam	1	0.1-2% ●	0.1-2% ●	1
Korean	5,900	80,284,000	40		Korean	Buddhism	5	10-50% ●	10-50% ●	-1 -
Kurd, Kurmanji	18,000	16,653,000	28		Kurdish, Northern	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Kyrgyz	5,625,000	6,473,000	10	●	Kyrgyz	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	112
Lezgin	3,000	636,000	9		Lezgi	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Lyuli	64,000	84,000	4		Tajik	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Mordvinian	6,200	109,000	10		Erzya	Christianity	3	0.1-2% ●	50-100% ●	-1 -
Russian	273,000	134,067,000	53		Russian	Christianity	4	2-5% ●	50-100% ●	-1 -
Tajik	64,000	12,351,000	15		Tajik	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Tatar	11,000	5,651,000	13	●	Tatar	Islam	1	0-0.1% ●	0.1-2% ●	1
Tatar, Crimean	42,000	642,000	8		Crimean Tatar	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Tuerke	300	600	2	●	Ili Turki	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Turk	24,000	66,934,000	38		Turkish	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Turk, Meskhetian	27,000	201,000	9		Kyrgyz	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Uyghur	34,000	12,233,000	10	●	Uyghur	Islam	0	0-0.1% ●	0-0.1% ●	1
Uzbek, Northern	1,000,000	35,601,000	13		Uzbek, Northern	Islam	1	0.1-2% ●	0.1-2% ●	20
Totals: 25	7,360,000						21 ◼︎ (14 ✸︎)	0.20 %	2.45 %	151
Unclassified / Other Individuals	40,000
UN Country Population (2026)	7,400,000

Very small groups reported, but outside the Joshua Project Small Group Policy. Some may not be viable and/or have incorrect Progress Scale values, population, language and religion information. The groups listed below are not included in overall Joshua Project people group counts. If you have information about these groups, please contact us.

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
People Group ▲	Progress Scale	Population	Primary Language	Primary Religion
Armenian	4	900	Armenian, Western	Christianity
Bashkir	1	1,000	Bashkort	Islam
Belarusian	3	800	Belarusian	Christianity
British	4	-1 Unknown	English	Christianity
Bulgarian	3	600	Bulgarian	Christianity
Chechen	1	1,900	Chechen	Islam
Chinese, general	1	1,100	Chinese, Mandarin	Buddhism
Estonian	2	100	Estonian	Non-Religious
Georgian	3	700	Georgian	Christianity
German	3	2,600	German, Standard	Christianity
Hui	1	2,200	Chinese, Mandarin	Islam
Karakalpak	1	1,400	Karakalpak	Islam
Lak	1	300	Lak	Islam
Lezgian	1	100	Lezgi	Islam
Lithuanian	2	100	Lithuanian	Christianity
Mongol	1	-1 Unknown	Mongolian, Peripheral	Buddhism
Mongol, Khalka	1	100	Mongolian, Halh	Buddhism
Pashtun, Northern	1	700	Pashto, Northern	Islam
Romani, Domari	1	600	Domari	Islam
Turkmen	1	2,400	Turkmen	Islam
Udmurt	2	300	Udmurt	Christianity
Ukrainian	4	2,400	Ukrainian	Christianity
Totals: 22

For more information see the Joshua Project Small Group Policy

* An estimate of the number of pioneer workers needed for initial church planting among unreached people groups by country. Estimates are calculated only for unreached people groups and are based on ratio of 1 worker-unit (single person or married couple) per 50,000 living in an unreached people group by country, or for example one team of four worker-units per 200,000 people. Some workers may already be onsite. Many more workers are needed beyond this initial estimate.

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Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
Province ▲	Estimated Population
Batken	583,000
Biškek	1,135,000
Chüy	1,054,000
Jalal-Abad	1,359,000
Naryn	321,000
Osh	1,488,000
Osh (city)	327,000
Talas	299,000
Ysyk-Köl	562,000
Provinces: 9	7,128,000
UN Country Population	7,400,000

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
Language ▲	Code	# Peoples w/ this Primary Language	# Unreached w/ this Primary Language	Scripture Status	YouVersion Bible Resources	Faith Comes By Hearing Bible Resources	Jesus Film Online	Global Recordings Resources	God's Story Resources	Gospel Tract Online
Arabic, Uzbeki	auz	1	0	0 Unspecified	-1	-1	-1	1	-1	-1
Armenian, Western	hyw	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	-1	1	1	-1	-1
Azerbaijani, North	azj	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1	-1
Crimean Tatar	crh	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	-1	1	1	-1	-1
Dargwa	dar	1	1	3 Bible Portions	-1	1	1	-1	-1	-1
Dungan	dng	1	1	3 Bible Portions	-1	1	1	-1	-1	-1
Erzya	myv	1	0	4 New Testament	1	1	1	-1	-1	-1
Ili Turki	ili	1	1	0 Unspecified	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Kalmyk-Oirat	xal	1	1	4 New Testament	1	1	1	1	-1	-1
Karachay-Balkar	krc	2	2	4 New Testament	1	1	1	1	-1	-1
Kazakh	kaz	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	-1	1	1	1	1
Korean	kor	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1	1
Kurdish, Northern	kmr	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	-1	1	1	1	-1
Kyrgyz	kir	2	2	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lezgi	lez	1	1	4 New Testament	1	1	1	1	1	-1
Russian	rus	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1	1
Russian Sign Language	rsl	1	1	3 Bible Portions	-1	-1	1	-1	-1	-1
Tajik	tgk	2	2	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1	1
Tatar	tat	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1	-1
Turkish	tur	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1	1
Uyghur	uig	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1	-1
Uzbek, Northern	uzn	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1	1
Totals:	22	25	21		17	19	20	16	11	7

Networking Possibilities

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The Mission App - connecting you to mission agencies that match your calling
Linking Global Voices - networks and global collaboration for followers of Christ
visionSynergy - developing high impact missional networks
GetInvolved - frontier people group (FPGs) prayer communities

Search the Web
There are many agencies and churches looking for additional staff to help them in their mission and calling in Kyrgyzstan. Internet searches may be a possible way to find these organizations. The following are some example search topics you might try:

Church planting agencies in Kyrgyzstan
Christian ministry in Kyrgyzstan
Business as mission
Christian literature distribution
Evangelism agencies
Christian discipleship
Short term Christian missions

Long term Christian missions
Urban ministries
Christian media opportunities
Bible translation opportunities
Relief and development agencies
Clean water projects
Christian medical outreaches

Kyrgyzstan Statistics
People Groups	25
Unreached People Groups	21 (84.0%)
Population	7,360,000
Population Annual Growth Rate	1.5%
Population in Unreached	7,074,000 (96.1%)
Primary Religion	Islam
Percent Christian Adherent	2.5%
Percent Evangelical	0.2%
Pioneer Workers Needed *	151
Country Progress Level
Continent	Asia
Region	Asia, Central
10/40 Window	Yes
Country Code	KG
Official Language(s)	Kyrgyz \| Russian
Bible Restrictions Rank	26 (1=Highest) Bible Access
Bible Shortage Rank	58 (1=Highest) Bible Access
Literacy Rate	99%
Estimated Illiterate Population	74,000
Persecution Ranking	40 (1=Highest) Open Doors

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Level	Description	Criteria
1a	Unreached (Frontier) - Less than 1 in 1,000 (0.1%) identify as Christians in any way. ✸︎	Evangelicals <=0.1% Professing Christians <=0.1%
1b	Unreached (non-Frontier) - Few evangelicals and little, if any, history of Christianity. ◼︎	Evangelicals >0.1% and <=2% Professing Christians >0.1% and <=5%
1	Unreached (All) - Few evangelicals and few who identify as Christians. Little, if any, history of Christianity. ✸︎+◼︎	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians <= 5%
2	Minimally reached - Few evangelicals, but significant number who identify as Christians.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians > 5% and <= 50%
3	Superficially reached - Few evangelicals, but many who identify as Christians. In great need of spiritual renewal and commitment to biblical faith.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians > 50%
4	Partially reached - Evangelicals have a modest to moderate presence.	Evangelicals > 2% and <= 10%
5	Significantly reached - Evangelicals have a significant presence.	Evangelicals > 10%

Country:

People Groups
Total

People Groups Unreached

People Groups Unreached Frontier

Population
Total

Population in Unreached

Population in Unreached Frontier

% Christian Adherent

% Evangelical

Progress Scale

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