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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Kok Nur Oirat of China

The Kok Nur Oirat of China, numbering approximately 105,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Khoshut Mongol people descended from Western Mongol conquerors who seized central Tibet in the seventeenth century and installed the Fifth Dalai Lama as ruler, later losing their autonomy after an unsuccessful 1724 revolt against the Qing dynasty. They mostly adhere to Mahayana Buddhism and Kalmyk is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Oirat, Kok Nur

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Mongolian
Primary Language(s): Kalmyk (xal)
Primary Religion(s): Mahayana Buddhism
Population: 105,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046926
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Pray for the Kok Nur Oirat of China

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Mahayana Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

99%
%
Mahayana Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kalmyk
Language Family: Mongolic-Khitan

100%
%
Kalmyk-Oirat Speakers

Media Resources in Kalmyk:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kalmyk:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
2002 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow ✓ ✓ ✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kalmyk bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kok Nur Oirat 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 Kok Nur Oirat:
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 Kok Nur Oirat of China

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
readIsaiah 53:6

Pray that those who have wandered far from God will be drawn back to Him, recognizing their need for a Savior and finding forgiveness and new life in Christ.

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
readPsalm 19:3

Pray that God will lead them to His Word, and where it is not available, ask that He will raise up those who will produce gospel media in their heart language.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
read2 Corinthians 5:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will serve as God's ambassadors, sharing the message of reconciliation with others.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
read2 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.

Oirat, Western Mongul Across Countries (ROP3 - 107607) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

6 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name ▲ Country Population Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Kalmyk-Oirats PG000914 Kalmyk-Oirats Russian Federation 183,000 Engaged yet Unreached Kalmyk Tibetan Buddhism
Kalmyk-Oirats PG007495 Kalmyk-Oirats Mongolia 191,000 Unengaged and Unreached Kalmyk Chinese Folk Religion
Kalmyk-Oirats PG024352 Kalmyk-Oirats Kyrgyzstan 8,200 Unengaged and Unreached Kalmyk Tibetan Buddhism
Kalmyk-Oirats PG024678 Kalmyk-Oirats Uzbekistan 1,000 Unengaged and Unreached Kalmyk Mahayana Buddhism
Kok Nur Oirat PG046926 Kok Nur Oirat China 105,000 Engaged yet Unreached Kalmyk Mahayana Buddhism
Oirat PG043577 Oirat United States 1,900 Engaged yet Unreached Kalmyk Tibetan Buddhism

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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