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The Turkmen of Iran

The Turkmen of Iran, numbering approximately 2,785,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern Iran, and northwestern Afghanistan. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Turkmen is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Turkmen
Primary Language(s): Turkmen (tuk)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 2,785,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042249
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Pray for the Turkmen of Iran

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

70%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Turkmen
Language Family: Turkic

100%
%
Turkmen Speakers

Media Resources in Turkmen:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Turkmen:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2016 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow✓✓✓
2016 Turkmen Truth✓✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Turkmen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Turkmen 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 Turkmen:
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 Turkmen of Iran

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
readGenesis 3:15

Pray that those without Christ will hear the words of Genesis 1-3 in their own language, and desire to know their Creator and His provision of salvation.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
readPsalm 111:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will praise the Lord with their whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Turkmen Across Countries (ROP3 - 110306) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TurkmenPG024639TurkmenTurkmenistan5,360,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG042249TurkmenIran2,785,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG024023TurkmenAfghanistan2,105,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG024598TurkmenTurkiye800,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishFolk Islam
TurkmenPG024320TurkmenUzbekistan227,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG006410TurkmenPakistan15,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG024533TurkmenTajikistan15,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG024372TurkmenKyrgyzstan2,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG047222TurkmenUnited States200Unengaged and UnreachedTurkmenSunni 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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