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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Fars of Iran

The Fars of Iran, numbering approximately 116,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are the core Persian ethnic group descended from Indo-Iranian nomads who settled the Fars region of southwestern Iran by the ninth century BC, forming the majority around which the Persian Empire and modern Iranian identity took shape. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Southwestern Fars is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Persian
Primary Language(s): Southwestern Fars (fay)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 116,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024151
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Pray for the Fars of Iran

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Southwestern Fars
Language Family: Indo-European

70%
%
Fars, Southwestern Speakers

Media Resources in Southwestern Fars:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Southwestern Fars:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Southwestern Fars bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Fars 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 Fars:
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 Fars of Iran

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.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
readMatthew 13:23

Pray that their hearts will have good soil that receives the Word, understands it, and bears fruit for God's kingdom.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
readJohn 10:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have assurance of eternal life, knowing that no one can snatch them out of the loving hand of Jesus.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
read1 Corinthians 9:22

Ask God to raise up believers from around the world to go and share the hope of Jesus with the lost so that they might trust in Him and have the hope of eternal life.

Fars, Southwestern Across Countries (ROP3 - 103002) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
FarsPG024151FarsIran116,000Engaged yet UnreachedSouthwestern FarsShia 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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