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 Uyghurs of China

The Uyghurs of China, numbering approximately 9,610,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkic people native to Central and East Asia, with their historic homeland centered in the region they call East Turkestan and that is today the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of northwestern China. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Uighur is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Uyghur
Primary Language(s): Uighur (uig)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 9,610,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024104
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Uyghurs of China

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: Uighur
Language Family: Turkic

100%
%
Uyghur Speakers

Media Resources in Uighur:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Uighur:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Hazirqi Zaman Uyghurche Terjimisi/ Modern Uyghur✓✓✓
Hazirqi Zaman Uyghurche Terjimisi/ Modern Uyghur✓✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Uighur bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Uyghurs 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 Uyghurs:
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 Uyghurs of China

Claiming to be wise, they became fools.
readRomans 1:22

Ask God to pour out His mercy and bring those who are walking in their own wisdom to faith in Jesus.

All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.
readPsalm 66:4

Pray that the good news of Jesus will advance here and that many will bow down and sing praises to His name.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
readColossians 3:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will set their minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, as they look to Christ for guidance and strength.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Uyghur Across Countries (ROP3 - 110469) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

8 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
UyghursPG050491UyghursCanada1,700Engaged yet UnreachedUighurSunni Islam
UyghursPG011939UyghursSaudi Arabia9,500Unengaged and UnreachedUighurSunni Islam
UyghursPG047221UyghursUnited States10,000Engaged yet UnreachedUighurSunni Islam
UyghursPG024374UyghursKyrgyzstan27,000Engaged yet UnreachedUighurSunni Islam
UyghursPG024600UyghursTurkiye47,500Engaged yet UnreachedUighurSunni Islam
UyghursPG024322UyghursUzbekistan66,000Engaged yet UnreachedUighurSunni Islam
UyghursPG024329UyghursKazakhstan294,000Engaged yet UnreachedUighurSunni Islam
UyghursPG024104UyghursChina9,610,000Engaged yet UnreachedUighurSunni 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