Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Nanai of Russian Federation

The Nanai of Russian Federation, numbering approximately 12,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Tungusic ethnic group indigenous to Russian Manchuria region They are an Indigenous people, in the Altaic people cluster of the Turkic Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - Shamanism. They primarily speak Russian.

Nanai in Russian Federation photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Nanai

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: European Peoples
Country: Russian Federation
People Cluster: Altaic
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - Shamanism
Population: 12,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000930
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Pray for the Nanai of Russian Federation

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion - Shamanism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - Shamanism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Russian
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Russian Speakers

Media Resources in Russian:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Russian:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Russian bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Nanai

The Nanai are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Nanai

The Nanai 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.

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

Next steps for the Nanai

The Nanai are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Nanai of Russian Federation

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that any who may be enemies of God will grasp the depth of God's love demonstrated through Christ's death for the ungodly, and be reconciled to Him.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
readPsalm 1:1-2

Pray that God will call out many sons and daughters from among them and give them a deep love for His Word.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
readRomans 5:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in the hope of glory and be in awe of God's mercy that gives them access to Him through faith.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:19-20

Ask God to bring people among this group to faith in Jesus who will be obedient to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded.

Nanai (ROP3 - 107064) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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