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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Balkar of Russian Federation

The Balkar of Russian Federation, numbering approximately 113,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to the Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria They are an Indigenous people, with Balkar as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Caucasus people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Karachay-Balkar.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Russian Federation
People Cluster: Caucasus
Primary Language(s): Karachay-Balkar (krc)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 113,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024448
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Pray for the Balkar 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Karachay-Balkar
Language Family: Turkic

80%
%
Karachay-Balkar Speakers

Media Resources in Karachay-Balkar:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Karachay-Balkar:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
IBT Version✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Karachay-Balkar bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Balkar 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 Balkar:
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 Balkar of Russian Federation

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those living in darkness and the shadow of death will see a great light and turn to the Lord for salvation.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
readJames 4:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will turn from worldly passions and live in unity with one another.

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:40

Ask God to raise up and send believers who will serve "the least of these" with compassion and energy because they know that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ.

Balkar Across Countries (ROP3 - 100852) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
BalkarPG024448BalkarRussian Federation113,000Engaged yet UnreachedKarachay-BalkarSunni 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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