The Torgut Oirat of China

The Torgut Oirat of China, numbering approximately 185,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as one of five dialects of Kalmyk-Oirat (xal), a language of Russia They are an Indigenous people, with Torgut as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Mongolian people cluster of the East Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Tibetan Buddhism. They primarily speak Kalmyk-Oirat.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Oirat, Torgut

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Mongolian
Primary Language(s): Kalmyk-Oirat (xal)
Primary Religion(s): Tibetan Buddhism
Population: 185,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007410

Pray for the Torgut Oirat 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Tibetan Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

65%
%
Tibetan Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kalmyk-Oirat
Language Family: Mongolic-Khitan

100%
%
Kalmyk-Oirat Speakers

Media Resources in Kalmyk-Oirat:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Kalmyk-Oirat:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2002 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow

1 entry

Or check out the Kalmyk-Oirat bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Torgut Oirat 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 Torgut Oirat:
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 Torgut Oirat of China

That they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:27

Pray that those who don't yet know Christ will search diligently for God and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
readIsaiah 40:11

Pray that the lost will come to know the tender care of the Good Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
readRomans 10:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and sometimes have doubts, God will help them remember and trust the power of Jesus to save them from their sins.

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

Ask God to raise up believers who will faithfully proclaim the good news and equip others to do the same.

Torgut Across Countries (ROP3 - 114334) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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