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The Kyrgyz of China

The Kyrgyz of China, numbering approximately 197,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to Central Asia, primarily associated with Kyrgyzstan, but also found in neighboring countries. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Kirghiz is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Kyrgyz
Primary Language(s): Kirghiz (kir)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 197,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG001248
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Pray for the Kyrgyz of China

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!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kirghiz
Language Family: Turkic

100%
%
Kyrgyz Speakers

Media Resources in Kirghiz:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kirghiz:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2005 Bible Society in Kazakhstan✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kirghiz 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 Kyrgyz:
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 Kyrgyz of China

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."
readJohn 6:35

Pray that the lost will come to Jesus and believe in Him, never to hunger or thirst again.

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
read2 Corinthians 12:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grow in the spiritual gifts God has given them and use these gifts to glorify Him and build up the Church.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
readMatthew 6:9b-10

Pray that God will raise up Christians who are driven by a desire to see God's name worshiped, His kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Ask Him to send them to the lost in this people group and sustain them.

Kyrgyz Across Countries (ROP3 - 105550) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KyrgyzPG024357KyrgyzKyrgyzstan6,095,000Engaged yet UnreachedKirghizSunni Islam
KyrgyzPG024682KyrgyzUzbekistan322,000Engaged yet UnreachedKirghizSunni Islam
KyrgyzPG001248KyrgyzChina197,000Unengaged and UnreachedKirghizFolk Islam
KyrgyzPG024509KyrgyzTajikistan136,000Engaged yet UnreachedKirghizSunni Islam
KyrgyzPG047261KyrgyzUnited States30,000Unengaged and UnreachedKirghizSunni Islam
KyrgyzPG024279KyrgyzKazakhstan14,500Engaged yet UnreachedKirghizFolk Islam
KyrgyzPG050666KyrgyzGermany14,000Unengaged and UnreachedKirghizSunni Islam
KyrgyzPG024565KyrgyzTurkiye1,800Engaged yet UnreachedKirghizSunni Islam
KyrgyzPG023963KyrgyzAfghanistan1,300Engaged yet UnreachedKirghizSunni Islam
KyrgyzPG047417KyrgyzCanada1,100Unengaged and UnreachedKirghizSunni 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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