The Uzbeks of Uzbekistan

The Uzbeks of Uzbekistan, numbering approximately 28,550,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Turkic ethnolinguistic people of Central Asia whose identity emerged through a long process of interaction and integration among Turkic, Iranian, and Mongol populations in the region They are an Indigenous people, with Uzbek as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Uzbek people cluster of the Turkic Peoples. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Northern Uzbek is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Uzbekistan
People Cluster: Uzbek
Primary Language(s): Northern Uzbek (uzn)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 28,550,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024324
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Uzbeks of Uzbekistan

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

88%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Uzbek
Language Family: Turkic

98%
%
Uzbek, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Uzbek:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Northern Uzbek:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Institute for Bible Translation, Sweden✓✓
Muqaddas Kitob, 2019✓✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Northern Uzbek bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Uzbeks 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 Uzbeks:
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 Uzbeks of Uzbekistan

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
readColossians 3:5-6

Pray for God to have mercy and give those who don't yet know Him the gift of Jesus and His salvation for all who call upon His name.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
readLamentations 3:23-23

Pray that they will have hope in the Lord, knowing that His compassions never fails and that His mercies are new every morning.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
readHebrew 4:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will boldly draw near to God as they approach Him in prayer, receive His mercy, and find grace for help in their time of need.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
readPsalm 67:1-2

Pray that as God blesses believers from among this people group or from nearby cultures, He will raise them up to share His saving power among the nations.

Uzbek, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 107469) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

7 people groups

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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