Turkmen of Turkmenistan (PGID: PG024639)

The Turkmen of Turkmenistan

The Turkmen of Turkmenistan, numbering approximately 5,360,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Turkic ethnic group indigenous to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern Iran, and northwestern Afghanistan. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Turkmen is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Turkmenistan
People Cluster: Turkmen
Primary Language(s): Turkmen (tuk)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 5,360,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Dispersed CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024639
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile

Submit Updates

Pray for the Turkmen of Turkmenistan

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!

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

90%

Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Turkmen
Language Family: Turkic

85%

Turkmen Speakers

Media Resources in Turkmen:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film
JESUS	View Film
Magdalena	View Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Turkmen:

Bible Name (Translation)	Video	Audio	Text
2016 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow	✓	✓	✓
2016 Turkmen Truth	✓	✓	✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Turkmen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Turkmen 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 Turkmen:

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 Turkmen of Turkmenistan

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 8:12

Pray that many will come to know Jesus, the light of the world, and have the light of life instead of walking in darkness.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
1 Peter 2:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember every day that Jesus' death on the cross brings real healing and restoration to their souls and joyfully share this good news with others.

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.
Luke 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.

Turkmen Across Countries (ROP3 - 110306) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

9 people groups

People Group ID	Name ▼	Country	Population	Strategic Progress Index	Language	Religion
PG006410	Turkmen	Pakistan	15,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Turkmen	Sunni Islam
PG024023	Turkmen	Afghanistan	2,105,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Turkmen	Sunni Islam
PG024320	Turkmen	Uzbekistan	227,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Turkmen	Sunni Islam
PG024372	Turkmen	Kyrgyzstan	2,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Turkmen	Sunni Islam
PG024533	Turkmen	Tajikistan	15,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Turkmen	Sunni Islam
PG024598	Turkmen	Turkiye	800,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Turkish	Folk Islam
PG024639	Turkmen	Turkmenistan	5,360,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Turkmen	Sunni Islam
PG042249	Turkmen	Iran	2,785,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Turkmen	Sunni Islam
PG047222	Turkmen	United States	200	Unengaged and Unreached	Turkmen	Sunni 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.

People Groups of the World

Countries of the World

Languages of the World

Religions of the World

Advanced Dashboard

What are People Groups?

Using Peoplegroups.org

People Group Research

Definitions and FAQs

About Us

Maps

Research Data

Resource Links