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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
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The Khalaj of Iran

The Khalaj of Iran, numbering approximately 52,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkic people of central Iran whose ancestors migrated westward from Central Asia and whose traditional homeland, Khalajestan, lies southwest of Tehran. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Khalaj is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Iran
People Cluster: Azerbaijani
Primary Language(s): Khalaj (klj)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 52,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024171
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Pray for the Khalaj of Iran

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Khalaj
Language Family: Turkic

70%
%
Khalaj Speakers

Media Resources in Khalaj:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Khalaj:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Khalaj bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Khalaj 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 Khalaj:
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 Khalaj of Iran

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will recognize Him as the only way to the Father and follow Him in faith.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:19-20

Pray that God will use His creation – the “things that have been made” – to spark a fresh and passionate curiosity among them to draw near to the Maker and that, as they seek Him, He will make a way for them to hear the gospel and receive it with joy.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
readPsalm 32:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that God is their hiding place and that He will preserve them in the midst of trials.

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.

Khalaj Across Countries (ROP3 - 104882) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▲PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KhalajPG024171KhalajIran52,500Engaged yet UnreachedKhalajShia 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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