The Urdu of Bahrain

The Urdu of Bahrain, numbering approximately 78,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Urdu-speaking Muslim expatriate community originating mainly in Pakistan and northern India whose migration to Bahrain has been driven largely by employment opportunities. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Urdu is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Urdu

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Bahrain
People Cluster: Urdu
Primary Language(s): Urdu (urd)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 78,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011308
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Urdu of Bahrain

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: Urdu
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Urdu Speakers

Media Resources in Urdu:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Bible Resources in Urdu:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Easy-to-Read Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Geo Version✓✓
Pakistan Bible Society✓
Revised✓

6 entries

Or check out the Urdu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Urdu 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 Urdu:
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 Urdu of Bahrain

For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
readPsalm 130:7b

Pray for those who are unaware of God's steadfast love that is offered to them through Jesus Christ to learn the truth and experience His plentiful redemption.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’
readRevelation 7:9-10

Pray that many people will receive the gospel and will be part of the great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, clothed in white robes and palm branches, proclaiming salvation belongs to our God.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
readPhilippians 3:20-21

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember their citizenship is in heaven.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
readJohn 1:7

Pray that God will raise up witnesses to testify about Jesus so that all might believe, knowing that He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Urdu Across Countries (ROP3 - 110423) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

21 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
UrduUrduPakistan17,590,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduSaudi Arabia2,150,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduUnited Kingdom1,220,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPakistaniUnited States668,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduUnited Arab Emirates253,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduCanada221,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduQatar180,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduOman137,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduFrance110,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduGermany96,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPakistaniSpain92,500Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduBahrain78,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduDenmark27,000Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduTurkiye27,000Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduAfghanistan20,500Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduMalaysia17,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduBelgium9,900Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduIreland9,400Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPakistaniThailand5,600Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduIraq4,600Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduKuwait4,200Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni 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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