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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mordvins of Russian Federation

The Mordvins of Russian Federation, numbering approximately 333,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Volga Finnic people of the middle Volga region of Russia, composed mainly of the Erzya and Moksha. Their culture reflects Uralic roots and centuries of interaction with Russian and Turkic peoples, and they are predominantly Eastern Orthodox. They mostly adhere to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Erzya is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Russian Federation
People Cluster: Finno-Ugric
Primary Language(s): Erzya (myv)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 333,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000927
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Pray for the Mordvins of Russian Federation

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: Erzya
Language Family: Uralic

80%
%
Erzya Speakers

Media Resources in Erzya:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Erzya:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Institute for Bible Translation✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Erzya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Mordvins 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 Mordvins:
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 Mordvins of Russian Federation

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that those who are deceived about what brings peace will not settle for any lies they’ve heard about God and will diligently seek Him and be satisfied when they learn the truth about who He is and what He’s done.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
readActs 17:24-25

Pray that the good news will reach everyone in this people group and that many will come to know and serve the one true God who made the world and everything in it and lives today.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
readColossians 4:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving, as they bring needs before the Lord.

And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
readColossians 1:20

As believers cross cultures to tell others about Jesus, praise God for allowing them to be a part of His reconciling all things to Himself, asking Him to help them remember their role in His beautiful plan of salvation for others.

Mordvin-Erzya Across Countries (ROP3 - 106791) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
MordvinsPG000927MordvinsRussian Federation333,000Engaged yet UnreachedErzyaEastern Orthodox Christianity
MordvinsPG024289MordvinsKazakhstan21,500Unengaged and UnreachedErzyaEastern Orthodox Christianity
MordvinsPG024307MordvinsUzbekistan15,000Unengaged and UnreachedErzyaEastern Orthodox Christianity
MordvinsPG024629MordvinsTurkmenistan2,400Unengaged and UnreachedErzyaEastern 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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