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
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

The Turkmen of Turkmenistan

The Turkmen of Turkmenistan, numbering approximately 5,360,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern Iran, and northwestern Afghanistan. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Turkmen is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Turkmen

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Turkmenistan
People Cluster: Turkmen
Primary Language(s): Turkmen (tuk)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 5,360,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024639
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Turkmen of Turkmenistan

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.

Pray Now!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

90%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Turkmen
Language Family: Turkic

85%
%
Turkmen Speakers

Media Resources in Turkmen:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Turkmen:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2016 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow✓✓✓
2016 Turkmen Truth✓✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Turkmen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Turkmen 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 Turkmen:
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 Turkmen of Turkmenistan

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
readRevelation 21:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through challenges, they will find comfort in God's promise of a beautiful future when there is no pain or suffering for those who belong to Christ.

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
readMatthew 10:14-15

Pray for God to raise up and send out believers to share the gospel with those in this people group who do not yet follow Christ. Pray that they will be welcomed with open arms so that the people they share with will hear and receive the good news with joy.

Turkmen Across Countries (ROP3 - 110306) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TurkmenPG024639TurkmenTurkmenistan5,360,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG042249TurkmenIran2,785,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG024023TurkmenAfghanistan2,105,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG024598TurkmenTurkiye800,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishFolk Islam
TurkmenPG024320TurkmenUzbekistan227,000Unengaged and UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG006410TurkmenPakistan15,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG024533TurkmenTajikistan15,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG024372TurkmenKyrgyzstan2,500Unengaged and UnreachedTurkmenSunni Islam
TurkmenPG047222TurkmenUnited States200Unengaged and UnreachedTurkmenSunni 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.

Scroll to Top