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The Urdu of United Arab Emirates

The Urdu of United Arab Emirates, numbering approximately 253,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a diaspora community of Urdu-speaking South Asians in the United Arab Emirates, largely descended from migrants from Pakistan and India who maintain a shared linguistic and cultural identity. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Urdu is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: United Arab Emirates
People Cluster: Urdu
Primary Language(s): Urdu (urd)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 253,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012261
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Pray for the Urdu of United Arab Emirates

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Urdu
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Urdu Speakers

Media Resources in Urdu:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film
Magdalena View Film
The Savior View Film
The Savior View Film

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Urdu:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
Easy-to-Read Version ✓ ✓
Geo Version ✓ ✓
Geo Version ✓ ✓
Geo Version ✓ ✓
Pakistan Bible Society ✓
Revised ✓

6 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Urdu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Urdu 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 Urdu:
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 Urdu of United Arab Emirates

And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."
readMark 14:23-24

Pray for those who may have heard the gospel but have not yet submitted their lives to Christ, that they will finally see the sacrifice which He made for them and surrender their lives to Him.

For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.
readLuke 2:30

Pray that the lost will see the salvation of God, and that they will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and suffer for their faith, they will sing for joy and be glad in their hearts because the Lord has compassion on them.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:11

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will put on the full armor of God so that they will be able to stand against the schemes of the enemy.

Urdu Across Countries (ROP3 - 110423) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

21 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▼ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Urdu PG006413 Urdu Pakistan 17,590,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG011938 Urdu Saudi Arabia 2,150,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG000693 Urdu United Kingdom 1,220,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Pakistani PG043672 Pakistani United States 668,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG012261 Urdu United Arab Emirates 253,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG043498 Urdu Canada 221,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG011911 Urdu Qatar 180,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG011895 Urdu Oman 137,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG042482 Urdu France 110,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG000277 Urdu Germany 96,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Pakistani PG042350 Pakistani Spain 92,500 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG011308 Urdu Bahrain 78,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG000100 Urdu Denmark 27,000 Unengaged and Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG024601 Urdu Turkiye 27,000 Unengaged and Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG024025 Urdu Afghanistan 20,500 Unengaged and Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG019330 Urdu Malaysia 17,000 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG042368 Urdu Belgium 9,900 Unengaged and Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG000304 Urdu Ireland 9,400 Unengaged and Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Pakistani PG010932 Pakistani Thailand 5,600 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG011725 Urdu Iraq 4,600 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni Islam
Urdu PG011809 Urdu Kuwait 4,200 Engaged yet Unreached Urdu Sunni 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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