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The Kalmyk-Oirats of Kyrgyzstan

The Kalmyk-Oirats of Kyrgyzstan, numbering approximately 8,200 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Western Mongol diaspora people of Oirat heritage who speak Kalmyk-Oirat and trace their origins to the Oirat communities of Inner Asia; they are traditionally associated with Tibetan Buddhism. They mostly adhere to Tibetan Buddhism and Kalmyk is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Kalmyk-Oirat

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Kyrgyzstan
People Cluster: Mongolian
Primary Language(s): Kalmyk (xal)
Primary Religion(s): Tibetan Buddhism
Population: 8,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024352
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Pray for the Kalmyk-Oirats of Kyrgyzstan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Tibetan Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

69%
%
Tibetan Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kalmyk
Language Family: Mongolic-Khitan

100%
%
Kalmyk-Oirat Speakers

Media Resources in Kalmyk:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kalmyk:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2002 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kalmyk bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Kalmyk-Oirats:
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

Pray specifically for the Kalmyk-Oirats of Kyrgyzstan

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
readJohn 8:32

Pray for those who live enslaved to sin to hear and receive the truth of the gospel and be set free.

Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
readPsalm 150:2

Pray for the gospel to advance among those who are living in darkness. Pray that they will come to know Jesus and praise Him for all that He has done.

But Jesus called them to him, saying "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."
readLuke 18:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a burden to share the hope of Christ with children.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Oirat, Western Mongul Across Countries (ROP3 - 107607) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
Kalmyk-OiratsPG007495Kalmyk-OiratsMongolia191,000Unengaged and UnreachedKalmykChinese Folk Religion
Kalmyk-OiratsPG024678Kalmyk-OiratsUzbekistan1,000Unengaged and UnreachedKalmykMahayana Buddhism
Kok Nur OiratPG046926Kok Nur OiratChina105,000Engaged yet UnreachedKalmykMahayana Buddhism
Kalmyk-OiratsPG000914Kalmyk-OiratsRussian Federation183,000Engaged yet UnreachedKalmykTibetan Buddhism
Kalmyk-OiratsPG024352Kalmyk-OiratsKyrgyzstan8,200Unengaged and UnreachedKalmykTibetan Buddhism
OiratPG043577OiratUnited States1,900Engaged yet UnreachedKalmykTibetan Buddhism

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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