The Tatars of Kazakhstan

The Tatars of Kazakhstan, numbering approximately 259,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to the Tatarstan region of Russia and Ukraine. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Russian is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Tatar

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Kazakhstan
People Cluster: Ural-Siberian
Primary Language(s): Russian (rus)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 259,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024298
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tatars of Kazakhstan

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

93%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Russian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Russian Speakers

Media Resources in Russian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film
The SaviorView Film

6 films

Bible Resources in Russian:

Or check out the Russian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tatars 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 Tatars:
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 Tatars of Kazakhstan

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
readRomans 1:19

Pray that God will use testimony of creation to cause those who do not yet know the gospel to long for truth and a relationship with the Author of life.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
readIsaiah 30:21

As the lost in this people group seek to know the truth of who God is, pray that the Spirit of God will draw them to Himself and guide them in the way they should go.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
readRomans 8:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the God who has given them freedom from fear so that they will trust Him completely as their good Father who meets all their needs.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Tatar Across Countries (ROP3 - 109874) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

11 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TatarsTatarsRussian Federation7,085,000Engaged yet UnreachedTatarSunni Islam
TatarsTatarsUzbekistan867,000Engaged yet UnreachedTatarSunni Islam
TatarsTatarsKazakhstan259,000Engaged yet UnreachedRussianSunni Islam
TatarsTatarsTurkmenistan73,000Unengaged and UnreachedTatarSunni Islam
TatarsTatarsTurkiye31,500Engaged yet UnreachedTatarSunni Islam
TatarsTatarsAzerbaijan15,500Unengaged and UnreachedTatarSunni Islam
TatarsTatarsKyrgyzstan7,900Engaged yet UnreachedTatarSunni Islam
TatarsTatarsTajikistan7,200Engaged yet UnreachedTatarSunni Islam
TatarsTatarsUnited States7,000Unengaged and UnreachedTatarSunni Islam
TatarsTatarsBulgaria6,100Engaged yet UnreachedCrimean TatarEthnoreligion
TatarsTatarsCanada5,300Unengaged and UnreachedTatarSunni 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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