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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Shughni of Tajikistan

The Shughni of Tajikistan, numbering approximately 149,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Tajikistan They are an Indigenous people, with Shughni as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Tajik people cluster of the Persian-Median Peoples. Their primary religion is Shia Islam. They primarily speak Shughni.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Tajikistan
People Cluster: Tajik
Primary Language(s): Shughni (sgh)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 149,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024518
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Pray for the Shughni of Tajikistan

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: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Shughni
Language Family: Indo-European

90%
%
Shughni Speakers

Media Resources in Shughni:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Shughni:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Shughni bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Shughni 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 Shughni:
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 Shughni of Tajikistan

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
read1 John 3:8

Pray for those living in darkness to recognize the destructive power of sin and the victory Christ has won over it.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
readIsaiah 1:18

Pray that God will make a way for the gospel to reach many through means they can understand and access, that they will receive the good news with joy, and that they will experience complete forgiveness and cleansing from their sin that Jesus offers through His sacrifice.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
readTitus 3:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and might struggle with temptation to trust in their own works, they will remember that it is only because of God's mercy that they have been saved.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
readJohn 12:24

Pray that God will raise up men and women who are willing to die to their own desires, bearing much fruit for the kingdom among individuals and in places where His gospel has not been proclaimed.

Shughni Across Countries (ROP3 - 108967) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ShughniPG024518ShughniTajikistan149,000Engaged yet UnreachedShughniShia Islam
ShughniPG023986ShughniAfghanistan40,000Engaged yet UnreachedShughniShia 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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