The Azerbaijani of Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani of Azerbaijan, numbering approximately 9,615,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and North Azerbaijani is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Azerbaijani

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Azerbaijan
People Cluster: Azerbaijani
Primary Language(s): North Azerbaijani (azj)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 9,615,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024040
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Azerbaijani of Azerbaijan

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: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: North Azerbaijani
Language Family: Turkic

98%
%
Azerbaijani, North Speakers

Media Resources in North Azerbaijani:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in North Azerbaijani:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Kitab Shirketi/Müqəddəs Kitab✓✓✓
Kitab Shirketi/Müqəddəs Kitab✓✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the North Azerbaijani bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Azerbaijani 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 Azerbaijani:
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 Azerbaijani of Azerbaijan

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:3

Pray that those who are lost and unaware of God's blessings will come to know Him as the one true God, put their trust in Him, and join in praising Him among the nations.

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
read2 Timothy 2:2

Pray that the lost will come to faith in Christ and be discipled in the truth of the gospel, becoming faithful followers of Jesus who, in turn, make disciples themselves.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
readPhilippians 2:5-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will imitate His humility in all they do.

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
readPsalm 23:3

Pray for believers to go and share the gospel with others here. Ask that God will restore their souls and lead them in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Azerbaijani, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 100675) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
AzerbaijaniAzerbaijaniNetherlands7,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorth AzerbaijaniShia Islam
AzerbaijaniAzerbaijaniGeorgia259,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorth AzerbaijaniShia Islam
AzerbaijaniAzerbaijaniAzerbaijan9,615,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorth AzerbaijaniShia Islam
AzerbaijaniAzerbaijaniKazakhstan95,000Unengaged and UnreachedNorth AzerbaijaniShia Islam
AzerbaijaniAzerbaijaniKyrgyzstan17,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorth AzerbaijaniShia Islam
AzerbaijaniAzerbaijaniTurkmenistan62,000Unengaged and UnreachedNorth AzerbaijaniShia Islam
AzerbaijaniAzerbaijaniUzbekistan82,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorth AzerbaijaniShia Islam
AzerbaijaniAzerbaijaniUnited States26,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorth AzerbaijaniShia Islam
AzerbaijaniAzerbaijaniGermany15,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorth AzerbaijaniSunni 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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