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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Nentsy of Russian Federation

The Nentsy of Russian Federation, numbering approximately 44,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Russia and can also be known as Nenets. They are an Indigenous people, in the Finno-Ugric people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Shamanism. They primarily speak Nenets.

Nentsy in Russian Federation photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Anonymous Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: European Peoples
Country: Russian Federation
People Cluster: Finno-Ugric
Primary Language(s): Nenets (yrk)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Shamanism
Population: 44,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000963

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Shamanism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Shamanism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nenets
Language Family: Uralic

%
Nenets Speakers

Media Resources in Nenets:

Films:

No entries found for: Nenets(yrk). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Nenets:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Nenets bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Nentsy

The Nentsy are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Nentsy

The Nentsy 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.

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

Next steps for the Nentsy

The Nentsy 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Nentsy of Russian Federation

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
readJohn 3:19

Pray that God will have mercy on those who love the darkness they are walking in and turn from their sin to faith in Christ.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
readPsalm 104:8

Pray that they will see the hand of God in the beauty and order of the natural world, and that they will worship Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
readRomans 10:12

Pray that as people from different backgrounds place their faith in Christ, they will be unified by their faith Him.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
readEphesians 6:10

Ask God to strengthen believers with His mighty power so that as they cross cultures to share the gospel, they will stand firm against the schemes of the enemy.

Nenets reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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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