The Karakalpaks of Kazakhstan

The Karakalpaks of Kazakhstan, numbering approximately 1,900 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a community formed through migration from Karakalpakstan and the lower Amu Darya region to Kazakhstan that maintains a distinct Karakalpak identity closely related to other Kipchak Turkic peoples. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Kara-Kalpak is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Kazakhstan
People Cluster: Kazakh
Primary Language(s): Kara-Kalpak (kaa)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 1,900
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024276
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Karakalpaks of Kazakhstan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

78%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kara-Kalpak
Language Family: Turkic

100%
%
Karakalpak Speakers

Media Resources in Kara-Kalpak:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Kara-Kalpak:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2004 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Kara-Kalpak bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Karakalpaks 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 Karakalpaks:
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 Karakalpaks of Kazakhstan

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
readPsalm 6:9

Pray that lost people will hear the gospel and place their faith in Christ, knowing that He hears their plea and accepts their prayer.

So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them
readMatthew 4:24

Pray that the truth about the Lord will spread throughout the land so that many will have an opportunity to receive the good news and put their faith in Him.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
readRomans 12:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, knowing that this is their spiritual worship.

And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."
readRomans 15:20-21

Pray that God will send believers to cross cultures and proclaim the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that the nations might glorify God for His mercy.

Karakalpak Across Countries (ROP3 - 104638) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 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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