The Uzbeks of China

The Uzbeks of China, numbering approximately 12,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Turkic ethnolinguistic people of Central Asia whose identity emerged through a long process of interaction and integration among Turkic, Iranian, and Mongol populations in the region. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Northern Uzbek is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Uzbek

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Uzbek
Primary Language(s): Northern Uzbek (uzn)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 12,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007419
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Pray for the Uzbeks of China

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Uzbek
Language Family: Turkic

100%
%
Uzbek, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Uzbek:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Northern Uzbek:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Institute for Bible Translation, Sweden✓✓
Muqaddas Kitob, 2019✓✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Northern Uzbek bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% or Greater but Less than 0.5% 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 Uzbeks:
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 Uzbeks of China

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
readPsalm 51:1

Give thanks to God that He is able to forgive all the sins people might commit, and pray that many who don't yet know this will hear the good news and turn to Him for mercy.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
readLuke 5:27-28

Prat that God will prepare many hearts to meet Him when He says, “Follow Me!” and that they will respond in faith, leaving everything behind to follow Him.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
readEphesians 2:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember God's mercy and grace and experience joy as they walk in new life with Christ.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Uzbek, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 107469) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

7 people groups

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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