Kurmanji Kurds of Turkmenistan (PGID: PG046645)

The Kurmanji Kurds of Turkmenistan

The Kurmanji Kurds of Turkmenistan, numbering approximately 8,200 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are ethnic Kurds who primarily speak Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish), the most widely spoken Kurdish dialect. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Northern Kurdish is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Kurmanji Kurd

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Turkmenistan
People Cluster: Kurd
Primary Language(s): Northern Kurdish (kmr)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 8,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046645
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile

Submit Updates

Pray for the Kurmanji Kurds 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: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

80%

Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Kurdish
Language Family: Indo-European

100%

Kurdish, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Kurdish:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film
JESUS	View Film
Magdalena	View Film
Magdalena	View Film

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Northern Kurdish:

Bible Name (Translation)	Video	Audio	Text
2019 Kurdish Literature Association	✓	✓	✓
2005 United Bible Society		✓
Transcaucasia	✓	✓	✓
Transcaucasia	✓	✓	✓

4 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Northern Kurdish bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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 Kurmanji Kurds:

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 Kurmanji Kurds of Turkmenistan

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you."
1 Samuel 13:13a

Pray that those who are walking in disobedience will recognize their sin and to turn to God.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Romans 9:16

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
Acts 16:15

Pray that God will bring entire families and households to faith in Him and raise up servant-leaders from among them.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will be His ambassadors, faithfully imploring people on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God through Jesus.

Kurd, Northern (Kurmanji) Across Countries (ROP3 - 105458) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

21 people groups

People Group ID	Name	Country	Population	Strategic Progress Index	Language ▲	Religion
PG020260	Kurmanji Kurds	Australia	5,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG047399	Kurmanji Kurds	Canada	7,700	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG046646	Kurmanji Kurds	Uzbekistan	3,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG046645	Kurmanji Kurds	Turkmenistan	8,200	Unengaged and Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Shia Islam
PG046639	Kurmanji Kurds	Kyrgyzstan	10,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG046638	Kurmanji Kurds	Kazakhstan	51,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG046633	Kurmanji Kurds	Iran	573,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG046631	Kurmanji Kurds	Azerbaijan	6,400	Unengaged and Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG024567	Kurmanji Kurds	Turkiye	9,000,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG024465	Kurmanji Kurds	Russian Federation	35,000	No Longer Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Shia Islam
PG024112	Kurmanji Kurds	Georgia	39,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Shia Islam
PG000026	Kurmanji Kurds	Austria	68,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG012204	Kurmanji Kurds	Syria	1,620,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG011820	Kurmanji Kurds	Lebanon	152,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG011787	Kurmanji Kurds	Jordan	12,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG011671	Kurmanji Kurds	France	85,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG011302	Kurmanji Kurds	Bahrain	92,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG000652	Kurmanji Kurds	United Kingdom	150,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG000421	Kurmanji Kurds	Netherlands	75,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG000250	Kurmanji Kurds	Germany	540,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	Sunni Islam
PG000062	Kurmanji Kurds	Belgium	67,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Northern Kurdish	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