The Buryat of Russian Federation

The Buryat of Russian Federation, numbering approximately 461,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Mongolic ethnic group indigenous to southeastern Siberia They are an Indigenous people, with Buriat (Buryat) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Mongolian people cluster of the East Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Tibetan Buddhism. They primarily speak Buriat, Russia.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Buryat

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Russian Federation
People Cluster: Mongolian
Primary Language(s): Buriat, Russia (bxr)
Primary Religion(s): Tibetan Buddhism
Population: 461,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000905
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Pray for the Buryat of Russian Federation

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Tibetan Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

48%
%
Tibetan Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Buriat, Russia
Language Family: Mongolic-Khitan

75%
%
Buriat, Russia Speakers

Bible Resources in Buriat, Russia:

Or check out the Buriat, Russia bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Buryat:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Buryat are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Buryat:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Buryat are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Buryat:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Buryat of Russian Federation

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
readTitus 3:3

Pray for those who seek worldly pleasures instead of God to flee from sin and choose God’s goodness and lovingkindness by placing their faith in Jesus.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
readPsalm 19:1-2

Pray that the lost will see the glory of God revealed in the heavens, that they will hear the good news, and that their hearts will be softened to respond to God’s call, turning to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
read1 Peter 2:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember every day that Jesus' death on the cross brings real healing and restoration to their souls and joyfully share this good news with others.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
readEphesians 6:13

Pray that God will send believers to the lost of this people group and that, as they share the gospel, they will take up the whole armor of God so that they can stand firm when trials come.

Buriat, Russia Across Countries (ROP3 - 115059) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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