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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Gilaki of Iran

The Gilaki of Iran, numbering approximately 4,355,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Iran . They are an Indigenous people, in the Persian people cluster of the Persian-Median affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Shia. They primarily speak Gilaki.

Gilaki in Iran photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Mohammad_Nouri - Shutterstock Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Central Asian Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Persian
Primary Language(s): Gilaki (glk)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Shia
Population: 4,355,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024157

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Pray for the Gilaki of Iran

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Shia
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Shia Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gilaki
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Gilaki Speakers

Media Resources in Gilaki:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Gilaki:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Gilaki bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Gilaki

The Gilaki are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Gilaki

The Gilaki 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.

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

Next steps for the Gilaki

The Gilaki are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Gilaki of Iran

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the message of hope will reach those who are wandering in darkness, offering them a path to eternal life.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that everyone has access to God's Word and that those who hear the good news will turn from their sins and put their faith in Jesus the Messiah.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
readJames 5:16

Pray that believers whom God sends will confess their sins, pray for one another, and live in unity. Ask that they will model healthy Christian relationships for this people group.

Gilaki reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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 Definitions page.

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