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The Ossetians of Russian Federation

The Ossetians of Russian Federation, numbering approximately 445,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group indigenous to Ossetia, a homeland that is politically divided between North Ossetia-Alania in Russia and South Ossetia, a Russian-occupied territory of Georgia. They mostly adhere to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Iron Ossetic is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Russian Federation
People Cluster: Persian
Primary Language(s): Iron Ossetic (oss)
Primary Religion(s): Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Population: 445,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024475
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Pray for the Ossetians 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Eastern Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

45%
%
Eastern Orthodox Christia… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Iron Ossetic
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Ossetic Speakers

Media Resources in Iron Ossetic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Iron Ossetic:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2002 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow✓✓✓
2004 Institute Bible Translation, Moscow✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Iron Ossetic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Ossetians 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 Ossetians:
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 Ossetians of Russian Federation

I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.
readIsaiah 45:5-6

Pray that the lost among them will be delivered from the confusion of false beliefs and come to know the one true God who alone brings light and purpose to their lives.

Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
readMark 10:14b

Praise Jesus for the way He loves children, asking that many will learn the truth about Him and come to Him unhindered.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns”
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that God will provide open doors for believers who cross cultures to share the good news of salvation with those who need it. Pray that He will give them joy as they see Him move.

Ossetian Across Countries (ROP3 - 107699) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
OssetiansPG024475OssetiansRussian Federation445,000Engaged yet UnreachedIron OsseticEastern Orthodox Christianity
OssetiansPG024577OssetiansTurkiye44,500Unengaged and UnreachedIron OsseticSunni Islam
OssetiansPG024308OssetiansUzbekistan11,000Unengaged and UnreachedIron OsseticSunni Islam
OssetiansPG024080OssetiansAzerbaijan3,400Unengaged and UnreachedIron OsseticSunni Islam
OssetiansPG024291OssetiansKazakhstan2,800Unengaged and UnreachedIron OsseticSunni Islam
OssetiansPG024630OssetiansTurkmenistan2,600Unengaged and UnreachedIron OsseticSunni 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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