The Afghans of Italy

The Afghans of Italy, numbering approximately 2,200 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a multiethnic community united primarily by shared national origin and collective ties to Afghanistan. The community includes people from numerous ethnolinguistic backgrounds, including Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, and others. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Dari is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Italy
People Cluster: Pashtun
Primary Language(s): Dari (prs)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 2,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG033518
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Afghans of Italy

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

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dari
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Dari Speakers

Media Resources in Dari:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Dari:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Good News for a New Age✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Dari bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Afghans 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 Afghans:
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 Afghans of Italy

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
readActs 18:8

Pray that rulers and leaders will access the gospel, respond in faith, and be baptized, uniting with Christ and His Church, and influence others to follow Him.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of host.
readJeremiah 15:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find joy and delight in the Word of the Lord.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
readActs 17:32

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures wisdom and discernment as they engage in spiritual conversations with those who are curious about the gospel.

Afghan, general Across Countries (ROP3 - 115238) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

12 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AfghansAfghansIran2,575,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansTurkiye260,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariShia Islam
AfghansAfghansGermany253,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansUnited States167,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansCanada90,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansUnited Kingdom51,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansFrance40,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansGreece36,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansNetherlands34,500Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansBelgium25,500Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansTajikistan6,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansItaly2,200Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni 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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