The Dargins of Turkmenistan

The Dargins of Turkmenistan, numbering approximately 3,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Northeast Caucasian people indigenous to central Dagestan in Russia. They share related Dargin languages, a common mountain homeland, and a cultural heritage shaped by village life, traditional crafts, and Sunni Islam. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Dargwa is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Turkmenistan
People Cluster: Caucasus
Primary Language(s): Dargwa (dar)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 3,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024614
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Dargins of Turkmenistan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dargwa
Language Family: Nakh-Daghestanian

100%
%
Dargwa Speakers

Media Resources in Dargwa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Dargwa:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2013 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Dargwa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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 Dargins:
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 Dargins of Turkmenistan

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those living in darkness and the shadow of death will see a great light and turn to the Lord for salvation.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that many will take refuge in the Lord and be His people who share the good news of salvation in Jesus with others.

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!"
readMark 7:9

Pray that as men, women, boys, and girls place their faith in Christ, they will let go of any traditions that do not honor Him.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
readPsalm 23:6

Ask God to raise up believers who will share the hope that, for those who trust in Christ, goodness and love will follow them all the days of their lives, and they will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Dargin Across Countries (ROP3 - 102454) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 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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