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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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The Nanai of Russian Federation

The Nanai of Russian Federation, numbering approximately 12,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Tungusic ethnic group indigenous to Russian Manchuria region. They mostly adhere to Shamanism and Russian is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Russian Federation
People Cluster: Altaic
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Shamanism
Population: 12,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000930
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Pray for the Nanai of Russian Federation

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: Shamanism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

100%
%
Shamanism 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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Nanai 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 Nanai:
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 Nanai of Russian Federation

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that those who haven't heard will hear the Word of Christ and believe in Him, calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
readHebrews 4:12

Pray for God's Word to be accessible to everyone in this people group in a way they will resonate with so that many will engage with it, receive it, and share it with others.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
readRevelation 21:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through challenges, they will find comfort in God's promise of a beautiful future when there is no pain or suffering for those who belong to Christ.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures the discernment they need to recognize the spiritual battle they are fighting. Pray God will protect their faith as they abide in Him.

Nanai Across Countries (ROP3 - 107064) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
HezhenPG007186HezhenChina7,000Unengaged and UnreachedMandarin ChineseChinese Folk Religion
NanaiPG000930NanaiRussian Federation12,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianShamanism

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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