The Kurmanji Kurds of Bahrain

The Kurmanji Kurds of Bahrain, numbering approximately 92,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are ethnic Kurds who primarily speak Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish), the most widely spoken Kurdish dialect. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Northern Kurdish is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Kurmanji Kurd

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Bahrain
People Cluster: Kurd
Primary Language(s): Northern Kurdish (kmr)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 92,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011302
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kurmanji Kurds of Bahrain

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

94%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Kurdish
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Kurdish, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Kurdish:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film

4 films

Bible Resources in Northern Kurdish:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2019 Kurdish Literature Association✓✓✓
2005 United Bible Society✓
Transcaucasia✓✓✓
Transcaucasia✓✓✓

4 entries

Or check out the Northern Kurdish bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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 Recent 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 Kurmanji Kurds:
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

Pray specifically for the Kurmanji Kurds of Bahrain

And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
readExodus 14:22

Pray that the God who split the sea so that the Israelites might pass through would do another great work among these people, softening the hearts of those who remain lost to the good news and saving them from their sins.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread."
readMatthew 6:10-11

As people go about their daily lives, pray they will have the opportunity to encounter Jesus-followers, receive the gospel, and respond with joy. Pray that, as God provides for their daily needs, He will also bring many into His beautiful kingdom.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a heart that longs to see all people from all parts of the world worshiping Jesus as He deserves.

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
readMatthew 10:14-15

Pray for God to raise up and send out believers to share the gospel with those in this people group who do not yet follow Christ. Pray that they will be welcomed with open arms so that the people they share with will hear and receive the good news with joy.

Kurd, Northern (Kurmanji) Across Countries (ROP3 - 105458) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

21 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsTurkiye9,000,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsSyria1,615,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsIran573,000Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsGermany540,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsLebanon152,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsUnited Kingdom150,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsBahrain92,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsFrance85,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsNetherlands75,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsAustria68,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsBelgium67,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsKazakhstan51,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsGeorgia39,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishShia Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsRussian Federation35,000No Longer UnreachedNorthern KurdishShia Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsJordan12,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsKyrgyzstan10,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsTurkmenistan8,200Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishShia Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsCanada7,700Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsAzerbaijan6,400Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsAustralia5,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsUzbekistan3,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam

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 Data Standards section.

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