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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Northern Pashtuns of Pakistan

The Northern Pashtuns of Pakistan, numbering approximately 19,240,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Eastern Iranian ethnolinguistic group indigenous to southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Northern Pashto is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Pakistan
People Cluster: Pashtun
Primary Language(s): Northern Pashto (pbu)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 19,240,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024390
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Pray for the Northern Pashtuns of Pakistan

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

98%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Pashto
Language Family: Indo-European

78%
%
Pashto, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Pashto:

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

5 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Northern Pashto:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Revised Yousafzai Pashto Bible 2020✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Northern Pashto bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Northern Pashtuns 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 Northern Pashtuns:
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 Northern Pashtuns of Pakistan

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
readLuke 15:7

Pray that God will convict the lost of their sin, give them an urgency to run to Him for forgiveness, and feel His welcoming arms around them when they turn to Him.

Moses said, "Please show me your glory." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
readExodus 33:18-19

Pray that many will come to know the glory of God, which is revealed in Jesus Christ, and that they will rejoice in the mercy He offers them.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
readJames 4:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will turn from worldly passions and live in unity with one another.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Pashtun, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 107909) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Northern PashtunsPG024585Northern PashtunsTurkiye6,700Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern PashtoSunni Islam
Northern PashtunsPG047285Northern PashtunsUnited States25,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern PashtoSunni Islam
Northern PashtunsPG050498Northern PashtunsCanada33,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern PashtoSunni Islam
Northern PashtunsPG012231Northern PashtunsUnited Arab Emirates663,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern PashtoSunni Islam
Eastern PashtunsPG043767Eastern PashtunsAfghanistan2,815,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern PashtoSunni Islam
Northern PashtunsPG024390Northern PashtunsPakistan19,240,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern PashtoSunni 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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