The Budukh of Azerbaijan

The Budukh of Azerbaijan, numbering approximately 200 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous Shahdagh people whose ancestral center is the mountain village of Buduq in northeastern Azerbaijan; their Budukh language belongs to the Lezgic branch of the Northeast Caucasian family. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Budukh is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Azerbaijan
People Cluster: Caucasus
Primary Language(s): Budukh (bdk)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024060
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Budukh 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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Budukh
Language Family: Nakh-Daghestanian

20%
%
Budukh Speakers

Media Resources in Budukh:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Budukh:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Budukh bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Budukh 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 Budukh:
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 Budukh of Azerbaijan

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
readPsalm 130:4

Pray that God will bring those who have hard hearts to repentance and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
read2 Corinthians 12:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their weaknesses, hardships, and difficulties, having hope because Christ's power is made perfect in their weakness.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Budug Across Countries (ROP3 - 101695) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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