The Uzbeks of Turkiye

The Uzbeks of Turkiye, numbering approximately 624,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkic ethnolinguistic people of Central Asia whose identity emerged through a long process of interaction and integration among Turkic, Iranian, and Mongol populations in the region. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Northern Uzbek is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Turkiye
People Cluster: Uzbek
Primary Language(s): Northern Uzbek (uzn)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 624,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024602
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Uzbeks of Turkiye

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

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Uzbek
Language Family: Turkic

100%
%
Uzbek, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Uzbek:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film
Magdalena View Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Northern Uzbek:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
Institute for Bible Translation, Sweden ✓ ✓
Muqaddas Kitob, 2019 ✓ ✓ ✓

2 entries

Or check out the Northern Uzbek bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Uzbeks 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 Uzbeks:
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 Uzbeks of Turkiye

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
readRomans 1:19

Pray that God will use testimony of creation to cause those who do not yet know the gospel to long for truth and a relationship with the Author of life.

"O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me."
readJohn 17:25

Pray that the lost will come to know the Father and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent, and that they will be filled with His love and grace.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
readPsalm 37:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will delight themselves in the Lord, trusting Him to give them the desires of their hearts.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
readIsaiah 40:9

Pray for God to send and sustain believers to go and herald the good news to the lost here.

Uzbek, Southern (Afghan Uzbek) Across Countries (ROP3 - 110472) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

4 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▼ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Uzbeks Uzbeks Afghanistan 4,480,000 Engaged yet Unreached Southern Uzbek Sunni Islam
Uzbeks Uzbeks Pakistan 994,000 Engaged yet Unreached Southern Uzbek Sunni Islam
Uzbeks Uzbeks Turkiye 624,000 Engaged yet Unreached Northern Uzbek Sunni Islam
Uzbeks Uzbeks United States 27,000 Engaged yet Unreached Southern Uzbek Sunni 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.

Scroll to Top