The Uzbeks of Turkmenistan

The Uzbeks of Turkmenistan, numbering approximately 590,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Turkic ethnolinguistic people of Central Asia whose identity emerged through a long process of interaction and integration among Turkic, Iranian, and Mongol populations in the region They are an Diaspora people, with Uzbek as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Uzbek people cluster of the Turkic Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Uzbek, Northern.

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

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Turkmenistan
People Cluster: Uzbek
Primary Language(s): Uzbek, Northern (uzn)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 590,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024649
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Uzbeks of Turkmenistan

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

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Uzbek, Northern
Language Family: Turkic

100%
%
Uzbek, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Uzbek, Northern:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Uzbek, Northern:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Institute for Bible Translation, Sweden
Muqaddas Kitob, 2019

2 entries

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

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Uzbeks 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 Uzbeks:
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 Uzbeks of Turkmenistan

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
readEphesians 2:8-9

Pray that the lost among them will receive the gift of salvation by grace through faith, not by works, and be created for good works.

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
readPsalm 119:97

Pray that the lost will have access to God's Word in their language and treasure it deeply, meditating on God's promises and precepts.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot... indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
readPsalm 16:5-6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and face hardship, they will remember that God is their portion and cup and that He has a beautiful inheritance for them.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readMatthew 9:37-38

Pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up believers to send out into His harvest field, which is ripe and ready.

Uzbek, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 107469) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

7 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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