The Chechens of Russian Federation

The Chechens of Russian Federation, numbering approximately 1,360,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnic group native to the North Caucasus region of southwestern Russia. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Chechen is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Russian Federation
People Cluster: Caucasus
Primary Language(s): Chechen (che)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 1,360,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024428
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Chechens of Russian Federation

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

97%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chechen
Language Family: Nakh-Daghestanian

100%
%
Chechen Speakers

Media Resources in Chechen:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Chechen:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2012 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Chechen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Chechens 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 Chechens:
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 Chechens of Russian Federation

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
read1 Chronicles 16:26

Pray that those among them who are lost and seeking after worthless idols will have the opportunity to hear and respond to the good news, seeing that Jesus is better than any idol.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
readPsalm 2:10-11

Pray for the rulers and authorities here to seek the Lord and serve Him only. Pray that the people they lead will be amazed by the work of God in their lives.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
readColossians 2:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be rooted and built up in Him, abounding in thanksgiving for the grace and mercy He has shown them.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Chechen Across Countries (ROP3 - 102059) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ChechensChechensGermany52,500Engaged yet UnreachedChechenSunni Islam
ChechensChechensJordan8,500Unengaged and UnreachedChechenSunni Islam
ChechensChechensGeorgia12,500Engaged yet UnreachedChechenSunni Islam
ChechensChechensKazakhstan42,500Unengaged and UnreachedChechenSunni Islam
ChechensChechensKyrgyzstan900Unengaged and UnreachedChechenSunni Islam
ChechensChechensRussian Federation1,360,000Engaged yet UnreachedChechenSunni Islam
ChechensChechensUzbekistan1,900Unengaged and UnreachedChechenSunni Islam
ChechensChechensBelgium18,000Unengaged and UnreachedChechenSunni Islam
ChechensChechensAustria30,500Unengaged and UnreachedChechenSunni Islam
ChechensChechensFrance67,500Unengaged and UnreachedChechenSunni 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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