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The Talysh of Azerbaijan

The Talysh of Azerbaijan, numbering approximately 134,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Iranian people of the Caspian's Talish region who ran an independent khanate in the 1600s before Russian rule began in the 1800s, their Soviet-era identity backed by Talysh schoolbooks until 1937, when acknowledging Iranian ethnicity turned dangerous. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Talysh is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Azerbaijan
People Cluster: Talysh
Primary Language(s): Talysh (tly)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 134,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024089
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Pray for the Talysh 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Talysh
Language Family: Indo-European

50%
%
Talysh Speakers

Media Resources in Talysh:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Talysh:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2018 Kitab Shirketi✓✓✓
Korpu Ltd✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Talysh bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Talysh 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 Talysh:
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 Talysh of Azerbaijan

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
readProverbs 30:5

Pray that those who don't yet know God will trust the flawless Word of God and seek refuge in Him, finding hope and salvation instead of remaining in spiritual darkness.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
readIsaiah 41:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not fear, for the Lord is with them, and He will strengthen, help, and uphold them with His righteous right hand.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Talysh Across Countries (ROP3 - 109766) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TalyshPG024220TalyshIran148,000Unengaged and UnreachedTalyshShia Islam
TalyshPG024089TalyshAzerbaijan134,000Engaged yet UnreachedTalyshShia 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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