The Talysh of Azerbaijan

The Talysh of Azerbaijan, numbering approximately 134,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an Iranian people of the Caspian's Talish region who ran an independent khanate in the 1600s before Russian rule began in the 1800s, their Soviet-era identity backed by Talysh schoolbooks until 1937, when acknowledging Iranian ethnicity turned dangerous They are an Indigenous people, with Talysh as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Talysh people cluster of the Persian-Median Peoples. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Talysh is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Azerbaijan
People Cluster: Talysh
Primary Language(s): Talysh (tly)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 134,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024089
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Talysh of Azerbaijan

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: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Talysh
Language Family: Indo-European

50%
%
Talysh Speakers

Media Resources in Talysh:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Talysh:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2018 Kitab Shirketi✓✓✓
Korpu Ltd✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Talysh bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Talysh 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 Talysh:
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 Talysh of Azerbaijan

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will recognize Him as the only way to the Father and follow Him in faith.

"You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."
readMatthew 5:13

Pray that the lost will have the opportunity to hear a Christian witness of how the gospel can bring hope and that they will put their faith in Christ.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
read3 John 1:2

Ask God to grant protection and good health — both physical and spiritual — to those He sends cross-culturally to share the gospel.

Talysh Across Countries (ROP3 - 109766) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 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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