The Tsaatan of Mongolia

The Tsaatan of Mongolia, numbering approximately 350 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a small Turkic speaking tribe of reindeer herders in remote northern Mongolia. They mostly adhere to Shamanism and Tuvinian is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Mongolia
People Cluster: Ural-Siberian
Primary Language(s): Tuvinian (tyv)
Primary Religion(s): Shamanism
Population: 350
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049989
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Pray for the Tsaatan of Mongolia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shamanism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

100%
%
Shamanism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tuvinian
Language Family: Turkic

100%
%
Tuvan Speakers

Media Resources in Tuvinian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Tuvinian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2011 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Tuvinian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Tsaatan:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Tsaatan of Mongolia

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
readMatthew 6:7-8

Pray that those who don't have a relationship with their Creator will come to know a God who hears their every need, freeing them from empty rituals and drawing them into a real, trusting relationship with Him.

...And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
readLuke 24:47

Pray that the message of repentance and forgiveness through Jesus will reach everyone.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
readColossians 4:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be wise in the way they walk with the lost and manage their time and other resources in a way that honors God.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Tsaatan Across Countries (ROP3 - 115457) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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