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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sorani Kurds of Iraq

The Sorani Kurds of Iraq, numbering approximately 5,465,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Iraq. They are an Indigenous people, in the Kurd people cluster of the Persian-Median Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Kurdish, Central.

Sorani Kurds in Iraq photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Kurd, Central (Sorani)

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Iraq
People Cluster: Kurd
Primary Language(s): Kurdish, Central (ckb)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 5,465,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011722
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Sorani Kurds of Iraq

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kurdish, Central
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Kurdish, Central Speakers

Media Resources in Kurdish, Central:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kurdish, Central:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kurdish, Central bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Sorani Kurds

The Sorani Kurds 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 Sorani Kurds

The Sorani Kurds 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 Sorani Kurds

The Sorani Kurds 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 Sorani Kurds of Iraq

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
readIsaiah 55:6

Pray that the lost will seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
readRomans 10:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and sometimes have doubts, God will help them remember and trust the power of Jesus to save them from their sins.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
read1 Corinthians 9:22

Ask God to raise up believers from around the world to go and share the hope of Jesus with the lost so that they might trust in Him and have the hope of eternal life.

Kurd, Central (Sorani) (ROP3 - 101922) 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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