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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Balkan Romani of Iran

The Balkan Romani of Iran, numbering approximately 35,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are the Balkan branch of the Roma people, defined mainly by their shared dialects and regional history rather than a single unified ethnic identity. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Balkan Romani is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Romani, Balkan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Romani
Primary Language(s): Balkan Romani (rmn)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 35,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024141
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Pray for the Balkan Romani of Iran

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

80%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Balkan Romani
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Romani, Balkan Speakers

Media Resources in Balkan Romani:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Balkan Romani:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Balkan Romani bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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 Balkan Romani:
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 Balkan Romani of Iran

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
readPsalm 62:1

Pray that those who are troubled and don't know about the God who saves will hear the good news and find rest in the one true God who can offer salvation for their souls.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
readPsalm 96:8

Pray for people here to humbly give God the glory due His name.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
read2 Corinthians 12:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their weaknesses, hardships, and difficulties, having hope because Christ's power is made perfect in their weakness.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
readActs 1:8

Pray that God will raise up believers who are willing to cross cultures and boldly share the good news of Jesus with the lost in this people group and from every nation.

Roma, Balkan Across Countries (ROP3 - 108397) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

12 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Balkan RomaniPG000986Balkan RomaniUkraine300,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniEastern Orthodox Christianity
Balkan RomaniPG039305Balkan RomaniSerbia273,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion
Balkan RomaniPG000737Balkan RomaniBulgaria267,000No Longer UnreachedBalkan RomaniUnaffiliated
Balkan RomaniPG000856Balkan RomaniNorth Macedonia105,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniPG024542Balkan RomaniTurkiye80,500Unengaged and UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniPG000861Balkan RomaniMoldova47,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniUnaffiliated
Balkan RomaniPG024141Balkan RomaniIran35,000Unengaged and UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniPG024030Balkan RomaniAfghanistan18,500Unengaged and UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniPG000811Balkan RomaniGreece11,500Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniUnaffiliated
Balkan RomaniPG000134Balkan RomaniFrance10,500No Longer UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion
Balkan RomaniPG039304Balkan RomaniSlovenia10,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion
Balkan RomaniPG000312Balkan RomaniItaly2,500No Longer UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion

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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