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

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.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that God will use ways from in-person witnesses to digital gospel resources to bring the joy of His salvation to everyone so that they can be glad in Him and sing for joy.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
readPsalm 23:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord's presence, even in the darkest valleys.

And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."
readRomans 15:20-21

Pray that God will send believers to cross cultures and proclaim the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that the nations might glorify God for His mercy.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

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