The Crimean Tatars of Ukraine

The Crimean Tatars of Ukraine, numbering approximately 231,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkic Indigenous people of the Crimean Peninsula, with a distinct language, culture, and history rooted in the northern Black Sea region. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Crimean Tatar is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Ukraine
People Cluster: Ural-Siberian
Primary Language(s): Crimean Tatar (crh)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 231,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000988
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Crimean Tatars of Ukraine

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

80%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Crimean Tatar
Language Family: Turkic

90%
%
Crimean Tatar Speakers

Media Resources in Crimean Tatar:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Crimean Tatar:

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

1 entry

Or check out the Crimean Tatar bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Crimean Tatars 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 Crimean Tatars:
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 Crimean Tatars of Ukraine

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
readMatthew 9:36

Pray that those who have no hope and are in need of a Savior will be comforted by the Good Shepherd, who seeks to gather the lost and weary into His care.

Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
readIsaiah 55:5

Pray that those who do not know God will access the gospel, run to Him, and discover that He is the one their souls have been longing for.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and suffer for their faith, they will sing for joy and be glad in their hearts because the Lord has compassion on them.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Tatar, Crimean Across Countries (ROP3 - 102312) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
Crimean TatarsCrimean TatarsTurkiye116,000Engaged yet UnreachedTurkishSunni Islam
Crimean TatarsCrimean TatarsUkraine231,000Engaged yet UnreachedCrimean TatarSunni Islam
Crimean TatarsCrimean TatarsKyrgyzstan7,900Unengaged and UnreachedCrimean TatarSunni Islam
Crimean TatarsCrimean TatarsUzbekistan207,000Unengaged and UnreachedCrimean TatarSunni 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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