The Chaldeans of Syria

The Chaldeans of Syria, numbering approximately 12,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Aramaic-speaking ethnoreligious people indigenous to northern Mesopotamia, especially present-day Iraq, whose identity is rooted in East Syriac Christian traditions, a shared historical heritage, and membership primarily in the Chaldean Catholic Church. They mostly adhere to Chaldean Catholicism and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Chaldean, Neo-aramaic

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Syria
People Cluster: Assyrian
Primary Language(s): Chaldean Neo-Aramaic (cld)
Primary Religion(s): Chaldean Catholicism
Population: 12,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012185
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Chaldeans of Syria

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Chaldean Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

90%
%
Chaldean Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

66%
%
Chaldean Neo-Aramaic Speakers

Media Resources in Chaldean Neo-Aramaic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Chaldean Neo-Aramaic:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Aramaic Bible Translation✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Chaldean Neo-Aramaic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% 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 Chaldeans:
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

Pray specifically for the Chaldeans of Syria

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
readIsaiah 48:11

Pray that those who have been living for their own glory will turn to the One who is worthy of all praise and find their true identity in Him.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
readJames 1:12

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged when they persevere under trial, knowing that when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
read1 Corinthians 15:10–11

Pray that God's people will preach the message of Jesus' death and resurrection and that it will spread among the lost through the selfless witness of believers.

Chaldean Across Countries (ROP3 - 101983) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

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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