The Northern Pashtuns of Pakistan

The Northern Pashtuns of Pakistan, numbering approximately 19,190,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an Eastern Iranian ethnolinguistic group indigenous to southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan They are an Indigenous people, with Pashtun as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Pashtun people cluster of the Persian-Median Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Pashto, Northern.

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

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Pakistan
People Cluster: Pashtun
Primary Language(s): Pashto, Northern (pbu)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 19,190,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024390
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Northern Pashtuns of Pakistan

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

98%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pashto, Northern
Language Family: Indo-European

78%
%
Pashto, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Pashto, Northern:

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

5 films

Bible Resources in Pashto, Northern:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Revised Yousafzai Pashto Bible 2020

1 entry

Or check out the Pashto, Northern bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Northern Pashtuns 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 Northern Pashtuns:
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 Northern Pashtuns of Pakistan

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
readProverbs 30:5

Pray that those who don't yet know God will trust the flawless Word of God and seek refuge in Him, finding hope and salvation instead of remaining in spiritual darkness.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, "the kingdom of God has come near to you."
readLuke 10:8-9

Pray that the lost will receive messengers of the gospel with joy, turn from their sins, and be healed.

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.
readRomans 4:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not waver but will grow strong in their belief, knowing that the Lord rewards those who seek Him.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Pashtun, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 107909) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Northern PashtunsNorthern PashtunsPakistan19,190,000Engaged yet UnreachedPashto, NorthernSunni Islam
Eastern PashtunsEastern PashtunsAfghanistan2,805,000Engaged yet UnreachedPashto, NorthernSunni Islam
Northern PashtunsNorthern PashtunsUnited Arab Emirates456,000Engaged yet UnreachedPashto, NorthernSunni Islam
Northern PashtunsNorthern PashtunsCanada33,500Engaged yet UnreachedPashto, NorthernSunni Islam
Northern PashtunsNorthern PashtunsUnited States25,000Engaged yet UnreachedPashto, NorthernSunni Islam
Northern PashtunsNorthern PashtunsTurkiye6,700Engaged yet UnreachedPashto, NorthernSunni 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.

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