The Hawrami of Iraq

The Hawrami of Iraq, numbering approximately 45,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Iranian (Iranic) ethnolinguistic community indigenous to the Hawraman/Uramanat region of the Zagros Mountains in western Iran and northeastern Iraq, distinguished by the Hawrami (Gorani) language and a highly adapted mountain cultureGurani, Gorani, Awromani, Bajalani They are an Indigenous people, in the Kurd people cluster of the Persian-Median Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Gurani.

Hawrami in Iraq photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Hawrami

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Iraq
People Cluster: Kurd
Primary Language(s): Gurani (hac)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Shia
Population: 45,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011713
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Hawrami 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Shia Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gurani
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Gurani Speakers

Media Resources in Gurani:

Films:

Bible Resources in Gurani:

Or check out the Gurani bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Hawrami

The Hawrami are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Hawrami

The Hawrami 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.

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

Next steps for the Hawrami

The Hawrami are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Hawrami of Iraq

Claiming to be wise, they became fools.
readRomans 1:22

Ask God to pour out His mercy and bring those who are walking in their own wisdom to faith in Jesus.

For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God!
readDeuteronomy 32:3

Pray that believers will proclaim the Lord’s name and declare the greatness of our God so that others might believe in Him.

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
readEphesians 5:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grasp the profound mystery of Christ's love for the Church, reflecting this love in their marriages.

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
readActs 17:29

Pray that God will send out laborers to tell people of the one true God and, as the good news is shared, bring about repentance and belief as they turn from idols and follow Jesus.

Hawrami (Gurani) (ROP3 - 103579) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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