The Tsaatan of Mongolia

The Tsaatan of Mongolia, numbering approximately 350 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a small Turkic speaking tribe of reindeer herders in remote northern Mongolia. They mostly adhere to Shamanism and Tuvinian is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Turkic Peoples
Country: Mongolia
People Cluster: Ural-Siberian
Primary Language(s): Tuvinian (tyv)
Primary Religion(s): Shamanism
Population: 350
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049989
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Pray for the Tsaatan of Mongolia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shamanism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

100%
%
Shamanism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tuvinian
Language Family: Turkic

100%
%
Tuvan Speakers

Media Resources in Tuvinian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Tuvinian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2011 Institute for Bible Translation, Moscow✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Tuvinian 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 Tsaatan:
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 Tsaatan of Mongolia

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
readColossians 3:5-6

Pray for God to have mercy and give those who don't yet know Him the gift of Jesus and His salvation for all who call upon His name.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
read2 Timothy 4:3-4

Pray that the lost will be open to the truth of the gospel and turn from false teachings and myths to the sound doctrine of Christ in faith.

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
readActs 2:46-47

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be devoted to the teaching of God's Word, to fellowship with one another, and to prayer.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
readRevelation 7:9-10

Pray that the promise in Revelation 7:9-10 will encourage believers from among them or from nearby people groups to share the gospel with people who have never learned it.

Tsaatan Across Countries (ROP3 - 115457) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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