Russians of Svalbard (PGID: PG000542)

The Russians of Svalbard

The Russians of Svalbard, numbering approximately 1,200 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an East Slavic people whose culture has developed across the vast landscapes of Eastern Europe and northern Asia, shaped by Orthodox Christianity, agricultural and frontier traditions, and strong state institutions. They mostly adhere to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Russian is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Svalbard
People Cluster: Slav, Eastern
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 1,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000542
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Pray for the Russians of Svalbard

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: Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

85%

Eastern Orthodox Christia… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Russian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%

Russian Speakers

Media Resources in Russian:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film
JESUS	View Film
Magdalena	View Film
Magdalena	View Film
The Savior	View Film
The Savior	View Film

6 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Russian:

Bible Name (Translation)	Video	Audio	Text
1876 Synodal Bible, Light of the East Mission Anniversary Bible	✓	✓	✓
2014 Bible League International			✓
Holy Bible, New Russian Translation	✓
Holy Synod Version		✓

4 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Russian 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 Russians:

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 Russians of Svalbard

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
Psalm 10:17-18

Pray that God, in accordance with His good character, will give justice to those who are oppressed by sin and that they will know that His offer of salvation is for everyone.

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

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

"And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you"...And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
Matthew 25:38-40

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and serve others in faithfulness to Him, they will know that by serving others, they are serving Jesus, who is present with them.

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!
Psalm 105:2

Pray for God to saturate this place with the gospel and raise up believing men and women from among them to share the good news of Christ with those who have yet to encounter it.

Russian Across Countries (ROP3 - 108452) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

40 people groups

People Group ID	Name ▼	Country	Population	Strategic Progress Index	Language	Religion
PG039315	Russians	Kazakhstan	4,545,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG008063	Russians	Australia	28,500	No Longer Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG015312	Russians	Madagascar	35,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Unaffiliated
PG015414	Russians	Mozambique	3,700	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG016303	Russians	Cuba	22,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG016491	Russians	Venezuela	4,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Russian	Unaffiliated
PG017363	Russians	Argentina	37,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG017453	Russians	Chile	2,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG017587	Russians	Peru	1,400	Unengaged and Unreached	Russian	Unaffiliated
PG033639	Russians	Cyprus	96,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG007587	Russians	North Korea	5,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG039316	Russians	Russian Federation	108,240,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Unaffiliated
PG042904	Russians	Belarus	776,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG042915	Russians	Ukraine	7,020,000	No Longer Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG043463	Russians	Canada	200,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG046469	Russians	United States	961,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG046696	Russians	Poland	14,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG046784	Russians	Czech Republic	42,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG048817	Russians	Azerbaijan	108,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Unaffiliated
PG049403	Russians	Germany	260,000	No Longer Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000781	Russians	Estonia	330,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000069	Russians	Belgium	64,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000119	Russians	Finland	80,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000193	Russians	France	75,000	Engaged yet Unreached	French	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000350	Russians	Italy	39,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000429	Russians	Netherlands	5,300	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000542	Russians	Svalbard	1,200	Unengaged and Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000567	Russians	Sweden	25,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000675	Russians	United Kingdom	64,000	No Longer Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000745	Russians	Bulgaria	14,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000038	Russians	Austria	32,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000800	Russians	Georgia	27,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000840	Russians	Kyrgyzstan	246,000	No Longer Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000849	Russians	Latvia	506,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000853	Russians	Lithuania	155,000	No Longer Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000867	Russians	Moldova	132,000	No Longer Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000983	Russians	Tajikistan	42,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000984	Russians	Turkmenistan	111,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG000998	Russians	Uzbekistan	551,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity
PG007374	Russians	China	19,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Russian	Eastern Orthodox Christianity

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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