Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Chaldeans of Iraq

The Chaldeans of Iraq, numbering approximately 68,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Aramaic-speaking ethnoreligious people indigenous to northern Mesopotamia, especially present-day Iraq, whose identity is rooted in East Syriac Christian traditions, a shared historical heritage, and membership primarily in the Chaldean Catholic Church. They mostly adhere to Chaldean Catholicism and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Iraq
People Cluster: Assyrian
Primary Language(s): Chaldean Neo-Aramaic (cld)
Primary Religion(s): Chaldean Catholicism
Population: 68,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011707
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Pray for the Chaldeans of Iraq

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: Chaldean Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

96%
%
Chaldean Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chaldean Neo-Aramaic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

60%
%
Chaldean Neo-Aramaic Speakers

Media Resources in Chaldean Neo-Aramaic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Chaldean Neo-Aramaic:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Aramaic Bible Translation✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Chaldean Neo-Aramaic 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 Chaldeans:
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 Chaldeans of Iraq

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
readPsalm 127:3

Pray that God will bless this generation of children, that they will come to know Jesus early in life and follow Him always.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
readMatthew 18:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged as they remember that Jesus is with them when they gather in His name.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
read3 John 1:2

Ask God to grant protection and good health — both physical and spiritual — to those He sends cross-culturally to share the gospel.

Chaldean Across Countries (ROP3 - 101983) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ChaldeansPG000226ChaldeansGermany3,000Unengaged and UnreachedChaldean Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
ChaldeansPG000400ChaldeansNetherlands1,100Unengaged and UnreachedChaldean Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
ChaldeansPG011707ChaldeansIraq68,500Unengaged and UnreachedChaldean Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
ChaldeansPG012185ChaldeansSyria12,500Unengaged and UnreachedChaldean Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism
ChaldeansPG024546ChaldeansTurkiye3,100Unengaged and UnreachedChaldean Neo-AramaicChaldean Catholicism

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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