The Persians of Armenia

The Persians of Armenia, numbering approximately 7,800 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a complex Iranian community shaped by a rich history, multifaceted blend of ancient traditions, cultural heritage, modern influences, Islamic values, and a strong sense of national pride and resilience. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Iranian Persian is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Armenia
People Cluster: Persian
Primary Language(s): Iranian Persian (pes)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 7,800
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG050098
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Persians of Armenia

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: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

80%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Iranian Persian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Persian, Iranian Speakers

Media Resources in Iranian Persian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Iranian Persian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
New Millenium Version 2009✓
New Millenium Version 2014✓✓
Today's Persian Version✓✓

3 entries

Or check out the Iranian Persian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Persians are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Persians:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Persians of Armenia

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
read1 John 3:8

Pray for those living in darkness to recognize the destructive power of sin and the victory Christ has won over it.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that God will remove obstacles to the gospel so that many will see the hope He offers through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, and be transformed from being enemies to being His friends.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
readPhilippians 2:5-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will imitate His humility in all they do.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

Persian Across Countries (ROP3 - 107987) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

30 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
PersiansPersiansAfghanistan117,000Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansIndonesia8,000No Longer UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansSouth Korea3,500No Longer UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansArmenia7,800No Longer UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansMalaysia21,000Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansGreece2,400No Longer UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansCanada202,000No Longer UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansUnited States467,000Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansBelgium12,500Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansFrance65,500Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansItaly11,500Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansTurkiye130,000No Longer UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansUzbekistan34,500Unengaged and UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansIran29,510,000Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansAzerbaijan1,400Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansAustria15,000Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansNetherlands36,000Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansAustralia84,000Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansUnited Arab Emirates557,000Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansSyria10,000Unengaged and UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansQatar276,000Unengaged and UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansOman16,000Unengaged and UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansKuwait50,000Unengaged and UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansIraq511,000Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansBahrain225,000Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansNew Zealand7,400Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansPakistan13,000Unengaged and UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansUnited Kingdom86,000No Longer UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansGermany175,000No Longer UnreachedIranian PersianShia Islam
PersiansPersiansDenmark15,500Engaged yet UnreachedIranian PersianShia 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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