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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Fars of Iran

The Fars of Iran, numbering approximately 116,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are the core Persian ethnic group descended from Indo-Iranian nomads who settled the Fars region of southwestern Iran by the ninth century BC, forming the majority around which the Persian Empire and modern Iranian identity took shape. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Southwestern Fars is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Fars

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Persian
Primary Language(s): Southwestern Fars (fay)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 116,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024151
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Pray for the Fars of Iran

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Southwestern Fars
Language Family: Indo-European

70%
%
Fars, Southwestern Speakers

Media Resources in Southwestern Fars:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Southwestern Fars:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Southwestern Fars bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Fars 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 Fars:
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

Pray specifically for the Fars of Iran

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will be freed from the emptiness of fading hopes and find lasting life and truth in the unchanging Word of God.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that everyone has access to God's Word and that those who hear the good news will turn from their sins and put their faith in Jesus the Messiah.

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
readJohn 14:2-3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere in hope, remembering that Jesus went to prepare a place for them to be with Him for eternity!

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
readPsalm 67:1-2

Pray that as God blesses believers from among this people group or from nearby cultures, He will raise them up to share His saving power among the nations.

Fars, Southwestern Across Countries (ROP3 - 103002) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
FarsPG024151FarsIran116,000Engaged yet UnreachedSouthwestern FarsShia 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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