Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Urdu of United Arab Emirates

The Urdu of United Arab Emirates, numbering approximately 253,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a diaspora community of Urdu-speaking Indo-Iranians in the United Arab Emirates They are an Diaspora people, with Urdu as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Urdu people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Urdu.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Urdu

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: United Arab Emirates
People Cluster: Urdu
Primary Language(s): Urdu (urd)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 253,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012261
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Urdu of United Arab Emirates

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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Urdu
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Urdu Speakers

Media Resources in Urdu:

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

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Urdu:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Easy-to-Read Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Pakistan Bible Society✓
Revised✓

6 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Urdu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Urdu 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 Urdu:
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 Urdu of United Arab Emirates

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
readPsalm 127:3

Pray that God will bless this generation of children, that they will come to know Jesus early in life and follow Him always.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
readJohn 1:35-36

Pray for those God sends to cross cultures to share the gospel, that they might faithfully share the good news of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Urdu Across Countries (ROP3 - 110423) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

22 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
UrduPG006413UrduPakistan17,500,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011938UrduSaudi Arabia2,140,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG000693UrduUnited Kingdom1,220,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPG043672PakistaniUnited States668,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG012261UrduUnited Arab Emirates253,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG043498UrduCanada221,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011911UrduQatar181,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011895UrduOman136,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG042482UrduFrance110,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG000277UrduGermany96,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPG042350PakistaniSpain92,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011308UrduBahrain78,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG024601UrduTurkiye27,000Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG000100UrduDenmark26,500Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG024025UrduAfghanistan20,500Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG019330UrduMalaysia17,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG042368UrduBelgium9,900Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG000304UrduIreland9,400Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPG010932PakistaniThailand5,600Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011725UrduIraq4,500Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011809UrduKuwait4,200Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG016370UrduGuyana4,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni 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