Unreached people groups
An overview of the country's people groups, focusing on those who still have little or no access to the gospel in their own language and culture.
Iraq is largely made up of unreached peoples. Arabs (the majority, divided between Shia and Sunni), Kurds, Turkmen and Yazidis live with very little access to the gospel, and dozens of languages still have no Scripture. The historic Christian communities, Chaldean, Assyrian and Syriac, have survived for centuries but have shrunk greatly after wars and persecution. The field is vast: most of the population has never heard a clear presentation of Christ in their own language and culture.
- 46M Unreached 98.5%
- 0 Minimally reached 0%
- 148K Superficially reached 0.3%
- 547K Partially reached 1.2%
- 0 Significantly reached 0%
- 27 Unreached 81.8%
- 0 Minimally reached 0%
- 4 Superficially reached 12.1%
- 2 Partially reached 6.1%
- 0 Significantly reached 0%
Source of people group data: Joshua Project (joshuaproject.net). Estimates, may vary.
Source: Joshua Project. Estimates, may vary.
| People | Population | Language | Evang. | Chr. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yazidi | 812K | Northern Kurdish | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Qatari Arab | 7.6M | Gulf Arabic | 0.2% | 0.9% |
| Marsh Arab | 53K | Mesopotamian Arabic | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| Egyptian Arab | 73.6M | Egyptian Arabic | 0.5% | 1.4% |
| Middle Eastern Turkmen Frontier | 4.9M | South Azerbaijani | 0% | 0% |
| Palestinian Arab | 11.5M | Levantine Arabic | 1% | 3.6% |
| Bajelani | 80K | Bajelani | < 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Afro-Iraqi | 1.5M | Mesopotamian Arabic | 0.3% | 0.6% |
| Chechen Frontier | 2M | Chechen | 0% | 0% |
| Central Kurd Frontier | 3.8M | Central Kurdish | < 0.1% | < 0.1% |
| Badini Kurd | 2M | Northern Kurdish | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Adyghe Frontier | 458K | Adyghe | < 0.1% | < 0.1% |
| Herki Frontier | 118K | Northern Kurdish | 0% | 0.1% |
| Domari Roma Frontier | 1.9M | Iranian Persian | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Kurmanji Kurd Frontier | 16.5M | Northern Kurdish | < 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Iraqi Arab | 22.4M | Mesopotamian Arabic | 0.2% | 1.2% |
| Gurani Hawrami Frontier | 334K | Gurani | 0% | < 0.1% |
| Syrian Arab | 23.5M | Levantine Arabic | 0.3% | 8.5% |
| Mandaean Sabean Frontier | 81K | Neo-Mandaic | < 0.1% | 1% |
| Southern Kurd | 6M | Southern Kurdish | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Shabak Frontier | 253K | Shabaki | 0% | < 0.1% |
| Northern Luri Frontier | 3.1M | Northern Luri | 0% | < 0.1% |
| Gurani Sarli | 25K | Kakayi | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Northern Iraqi Arab | 12.1M | North Mesopotamian Arabic | 0.2% | 0.7% |
| Bedouin Arab Frontier | 2.8M | Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic | < 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Turoyo Syrian Aramean | 188K | Turoyo | 0.8% | 93.3% |
| Koy Sanjaq Surat | 1K | Koy Sanjaq Surat | 1% | 75% |
| Generic Nepali | 1.7M | Nepali | 1.6% | 2% |
| Deaf Frontier | 27.5M | Pakistan Sign Language | 1.8% | 3.7% |
| Persian | 48.4M | Iranian Persian | 1.5% | 1.8% |
| Chaldeans | 117K | Chaldean Neo-Aramaic | 1% | 95% |
| Assyrian | 672K | Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | 1.4% | 91.6% |
| Armenian | 6M | Armenian | 9.3% | 94.6% |
Intercede for Iraq and its peoples
Every unreached people group is an entire culture still without full access to the gospel. Join in prayer with Christians around the world.
Open the Prayer Calendar