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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Russians of North Korea

The Russians of North Korea, numbering approximately 5,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an East Slavic people whose culture has developed across the vast landscapes of Eastern Europe and northern Asia, shaped by Orthodox Christianity, agricultural and frontier traditions, and strong state institutions They are an Diaspora people, with Russian as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Slav, Eastern people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples. Their primary religion is Eastern Orthodox Christianity. They primarily speak Russian.

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

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: North Korea
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 5,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007587
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Russians of North Korea

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: Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

85%
%
Eastern Orthodox Christia… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Russian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Russian Speakers

Media Resources in Russian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film
The SaviorView Film

6 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Russian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1876 Synodal Bible, Light of the East Mission Anniversary Bible✓✓✓
2014 Bible League International✓
Holy Bible, New Russian Translation✓
Holy Synod Version✓

4 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Russian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% or Greater but Less than 0.5% 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 Russians:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Russians 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 Russians:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Russians 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.

Next steps for the Russians:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Russians of North Korea

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that those who are lost in darkness and confusion will come to understand God's ways, submit to His righteous rule, and experience the joy of His salvation.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
readJob 1:20-22

Pray that those who mourn will worship God in the midst of their suffering and loss, recognizing He is the source of all good things and that He is worthy of their praise and trust.

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
readMatthew 18:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they find other believers to pray with, and that they will trust God to answer their requests according to His will.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
readJohn 12:24

Pray that God will raise up men and women who are willing to die to their own desires, bearing much fruit for the kingdom among individuals and in places where His gospel has not been proclaimed.

Russian Across Countries (ROP3 - 108452) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

40 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
RussiansPG039316RussiansRussian Federation108,420,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG042915RussiansUkraine7,035,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG039315RussiansKazakhstan4,540,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG046469RussiansUnited States960,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG042904RussiansBelarus776,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000998RussiansUzbekistan549,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000849RussiansLatvia507,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000840RussiansKyrgyzstan370,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000781RussiansEstonia330,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG049403RussiansGermany260,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG043463RussiansCanada200,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000853RussiansLithuania155,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000867RussiansMoldova132,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000984RussiansTurkmenistan111,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG048817RussiansAzerbaijan108,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG033639RussiansCyprus96,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000119RussiansFinland80,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000193RussiansFrance74,500Engaged yet UnreachedFrenchEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000069RussiansBelgium64,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000675RussiansUnited Kingdom64,000No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG046784RussiansCzech Republic42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000983RussiansTajikistan42,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000350RussiansItaly39,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG017363RussiansArgentina36,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG015312RussiansMadagascar34,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG000038RussiansAustria32,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG008063RussiansAustralia28,500No Longer UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000800RussiansGeorgia27,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000567RussiansSweden25,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG016303RussiansCuba22,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG007374RussiansChina19,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000745RussiansBulgaria14,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG046696RussiansPoland14,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG007587RussiansNorth Korea5,500Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG000429RussiansNetherlands5,300Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG016491RussiansVenezuela4,500Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG015414RussiansMozambique3,700Engaged yet UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG017453RussiansChile2,000Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity
RussiansPG017587RussiansPeru1,400Unengaged and UnreachedRussianUnaffiliated
RussiansPG000542RussiansSvalbard1,200Unengaged and UnreachedRussianEastern Orthodox Christianity

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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