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.
Syria has 30 ethnic groups catalogued by the Joshua Project, and 19 of them are considered unreached, that is, without a local church with enough strength and resources to evangelize its own people. Syrian Arabs are the largest group, followed by Kurds, Alawites, and Druze. Despite the country's centuries-old Christian presence, only 0.2% of the population is evangelical, and the civil war, followed by the recent wave of emigration, has further reduced the local church.
- 9.3M Unreached 35.4%
- 16.4M Minimally reached 62.8%
- 278K Superficially reached 1.1%
- 165K Partially reached 0.7%
- 0 Significantly reached 0%
- 19 Unreached 63.3%
- 4 Minimally reached 13.3%
- 5 Superficially reached 16.7%
- 2 Partially reached 6.7%
- 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. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muslim Lebanese Arab | 5.4M | Levantine Arabic | 0.7% | 17.3% |
| Kurmanji Kurd Frontier | 16.5M | Northern Kurdish | < 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Egyptian Arab | 73.6M | Egyptian Arabic | 0.5% | 1.4% |
| Syrian Arab | 23.5M | Levantine Arabic | 0.3% | 8.5% |
| Eastern Bedawi Bedouin Frontier | 595K | Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic | 0% | < 0.1% |
| Palestinian Arab | 11.5M | Levantine Arabic | 1% | 3.6% |
| Western Aramaic | 33K | Western Neo-Aramaic | 0.1% | 40% |
| Iraqi Arab | 22.4M | Mesopotamian Arabic | 0.2% | 1.2% |
| Chechen Frontier | 2M | Chechen | 0% | 0% |
| Northern Iraqi Arab | 12.1M | North Mesopotamian Arabic | 0.2% | 0.7% |
| Eastern Circassian Kabardian Frontier | 1.2M | Kabardian | < 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Yazidi | 812K | Northern Kurdish | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Ossetian Frontier | 649K | Ossetic | 0.1% | 7.7% |
| Middle Eastern Turkmen Frontier | 4.9M | South Azerbaijani | 0% | 0% |
| Najdi Arabs Frontier | 13M | Najdi Arabic | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Domari Roma Frontier | 1.9M | Iranian Persian | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Druze | 1.2M | Levantine Arabic | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Alawite Frontier | 2.3M | Levantine Arabic | < 0.1% | < 0.1% |
| Abkhaz Frontier | 173K | Abkhaz | 0.1% | 2.8% |
| Jordanian Arab | 4.9M | Levantine Arabic | 0.3% | 3.6% |
| Adyghe Frontier | 458K | Adyghe | < 0.1% | < 0.1% |
| Greek | 10M | Greek | 0.3% | 94.4% |
| Turoyo Syrian Aramean | 188K | Turoyo | 0.8% | 93.3% |
| Deaf Frontier | 27.5M | Pakistan Sign Language | 1.8% | 3.7% |
| Persian | 48.4M | Iranian Persian | 1.5% | 1.8% |
| Turkish Azeri | 18.6M | South Azerbaijani | 1.6% | 1.8% |
| Chaldeans | 117K | Chaldean Neo-Aramaic | 1% | 95% |
| French | 52M | French | 1.1% | 66.7% |
| Assyrian | 672K | Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | 1.4% | 91.6% |
| Armenian | 6M | Armenian | 9.3% | 94.6% |
Intercede for Syria 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