The Balkan Romani of Iran

The Balkan Romani of Iran, numbering approximately 35,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are the Balkan branch of the Roma people, defined mainly by their shared dialects and regional history rather than a single unified ethnic identity. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Balkan Romani is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Romani, Balkan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Romani
Primary Language(s): Balkan Romani (rmn)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 35,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024141
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

80%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Balkan Romani
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Romani, Balkan Speakers

Media Resources in Balkan Romani:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Balkan Romani:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Balkan Romani bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Balkan Romani:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Balkan Romani of Iran

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
readPsalm 19:1-2

Pray that the lost will see the glory of God revealed in the heavens, that they will hear the good news, and that their hearts will be softened to respond to God’s call, turning to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
read2 Corinthians 5:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will understand and experience the truth that in Christ, they are a new creation, and the old has gone and the new has come.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

Roma, Balkan Across Countries (ROP3 - 108397) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

12 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniItaly2,500No Longer UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniSlovenia10,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniFrance10,500No Longer UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniGreece11,500Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniUnaffiliated
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniAfghanistan18,500Unengaged and UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniIran35,000Unengaged and UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniMoldova47,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniUnaffiliated
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniTurkiye80,500Unengaged and UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniNorth Macedonia105,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniSunni Islam
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniBulgaria267,000No Longer UnreachedBalkan RomaniUnaffiliated
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniSerbia273,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniEthnoreligion
Balkan RomaniBalkan RomaniUkraine300,000Engaged yet UnreachedBalkan RomaniEastern Orthodox Christianity

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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