Afghanistan :: Joshua Project

Country: Afghanistan

Number of People Groups

People Groups Unreached

73 (93.6%)

Total Population

33,269,000

Unreached Population

33,250,000 (99.9%)

% Professing Christian

0.1%

% Evangelical

0.03 %

Largest Religion

Islam (99.8%)

Literacy Rate

38 %

10/40 Window

Yes

Map Notes

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼

Progress Scale: ●●●●●
People Group ▲	Population this Country	Global Population	Indigenous	Primary Language	Progress Scale	Primary Religion	% Professing Christian	% Evangelical
Afshari	13,000	375,000		Azerbaijani, South	1 ●	Islam	0.04 %	0.04 %
Aimaq, Char	293,000	293,000	●	Aimaq	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Aimaq, Firozkohi	290,000	290,000	●	Aimaq	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Aimaq, Hazara	226,000	235,000	●	Aimaq	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Aimaq, Jamshidi	128,000	157,000	●	Aimaq	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Aimaq, Taimani	581,000	581,000	●	Aimaq	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Aimaq, Timuri	145,000	341,000	●	Aimaq	1 ●	Islam	0.02 %	0.00 %
Americans, U.S.	11,000	188,897,000		English	5 ●	Christianity	84.50 %	30.00 %
Ansari	2,100	16,496,000		Urdu	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Arab, Tajiki	15,000	16,000	●	Arabic, Tajiki Spoken	1 ●	Islam	0.20 %	0.20 %
Arora (Hindu traditions)	1,300	4,195,000		Saraiki	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %
Baloch, Western	405,000	1,177,000	●	Balochi, Western	1 ●	Islam	0.01 %	0.01 %
Bania (Muslim traditions)	5,600	5,600		Urdu	1 ●	Islam	0.23 %	0.20 %
Brahmin	3,200	66,445,000		Urdu	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %
Brahui, Kur Galli	279,000	2,757,000	●	Brahui	1 ●	Islam	0.10 %	0.10 %
British	1,000	51,663,000		English	4 ●	Christianity	72.00 %	6.00 %
Changar	2,600	334,000		Urdu	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Darwazi, Badakhshani	14,000	14,000	●	Dari	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Deaf	-1 Unknown	-1 Unknown	●	Afghan Sign Language	1 ●	Islam	0.05 %	0.00 %
Garwi, Kohistani	1,700	1,700	●	Kalami	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
German	2,500	64,480,000		German, Standard	4 ●	Christianity	78.00 %	5.00 %
Guhjali, Wakhi	18,000	98,000	●	Wakhi	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Gujar (Muslim traditions)	3,700	5,096,000	●	Gujari	1 ●	Islam	0.03 %	0.03 %
Gypsy, Domari	9,600	4,101,000	●	Domari	1 ●	Islam	0.02 %	0.00 %
Hazara	2,876,000	3,489,000	●	Hazaragi	1 ●	Islam	0.03 %	0.03 %
Indus Kohistani	40,000	40,000	●	Kohistani, Indus	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Ishkashimi	2,700	3,500	●	Ishkashimi	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Italian	1,700	38,042,000		Italian	2 ●	Christianity	77.00 %	0.20 %
Jakata, Jati	1,400	75,000	●	Inku	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Karakalpak	2,800	861,000		Karakalpak	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Kazakh	2,800	14,299,000		Kazakh	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Khatri (Sikh traditions)	2,400	323,000		Punjabi, Eastern	1 ●	Other / Small	0.00 %	0.00 %
Kurd, Central	234,000	7,858,000		Kurdish, Central	1 ●	Islam	0.01 %	0.01 %
Kyrgyz	1,100	5,038,000		Kyrgyz	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Moghal	2,000	2,936,000	●	Dari	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Munji	6,000	6,000	●	Munji	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Mussali	2,800	2,500,000		Punjabi, Eastern	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Narisati, Arandui	14,000	14,000	●	Gawar-Bati	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Nuristani, Ashkuni	42,000	42,000	●	Ashkun	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Nuristani, Bashgali, Kati	29,000	33,000	●	Kati	1 ●	Islam	0.10 %	0.00 %
Nuristani, Grangali	9,800	9,800	●	Grangali	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Nuristani, Kamviri	19,000	19,000	●	Kamviri	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Nuristani, Malakhel	2,800	2,800	●	Dari	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Nuristani, Prasuni	8,400	8,400	●	Prasuni	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Nuristani, Tregami	3,700	3,700	●	Tregami	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Nuristani, Urmuri	2,800	2,800	●	Pashto, Southern	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Nuristani, Waigeli	12,000	12,000	●	Waigali	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Pahlavani	3,200	3,200	●	Dari	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Parachi	7,000	7,000	●	Parachi	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Parsee	2,000	165,000		Dari	1 ●	Other / Small	0.00 %	0.00 %
Parya, Laghmani	300	5,300	●	Parya	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Pashayi, Northeast	79,000	79,000	●	Pashai, Northeast	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Pashayi, Northwest	14,000	14,000	●	Pashai, Northwest	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Pashayi, Southeast	188,000	188,000	●	Pashai, Southeast	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Pashayi, Southwest	105,000	105,000	●	Pashai, Southwest	1 ●	Islam	0.01 %	0.00 %
Pashtun, Northern	6,474,000	44,091,000	●	Pashto, Northern	1 ●	Islam	0.01 %	0.01 %
Pashtun, Southern	6,819,000	7,146,000	●	Pashto, Southern	1 ●	Islam	0.02 %	0.02 %
Persian	574,000	40,090,000		Persian, Iranian	1 ●	Islam	0.12 %	0.10 %
Punjabi	5,200	2,415,000		Punjabi, Eastern	1 ●	Islam	1.00 %	0.30 %
Punjabi, Western	32,000	32,000		Punjabi, Western	1 ●	Islam	0.20 %	0.10 %
Qizilbash	259,000	259,000	●	Dari	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Romani, Balkan, Zargari	15,000	1,243,000	●	Romani, Balkan	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Russian	2,000	134,007,000		Russian	3 ●	Non-Religious	31.00 %	0.30 %
Sanglechi	2,400	4,000	●	Sanglechi	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Sau	4,200	4,200	●	Savi	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Shughni	39,000	158,000	●	Shughni	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Shumashti	1,400	1,400	●	Shumashti	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Sindhi	21,000	97,000		Sindhi	1 ●	Islam	0.08 %	0.08 %
Tajik, Afghan	8,092,000	8,667,000	●	Dari	1 ●	Islam	0.01 %	0.01 %
Tangshuri	14,000	14,000	●	Dari	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Tirahi	5,000	5,000	●	Pashto, Southern	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Turk	9,300	59,170,000		Turkish	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Turkmen, Turkomani	1,664,000	7,707,000		Turkmen	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Uyghur	4,200	11,845,000		Uyghur	1 ●	Islam	0.05 %	0.05 %
Uzbek, Southern	3,043,000	3,079,000		Uzbek, Southern	1 ●	Islam	0.01 %	0.01 %
Warduji	7,000	7,000	●	Warduji	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Wotapuri-Katarqalai	3,000	3,000	●	Pashto, Northern	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %
Totals: 78	33,269,000				73 ●		0.06 %	0.03 %
Unclassified / Other Individuals	101,000
UN Country Population (2016)	33,370,000

Other minor groups: 2

Afghanistan

Groups reported, but outside the Small People Group Policy conditions. Some may not be viable and/or have incorrect Progress Scale values. The groups listed below are not included in overall Joshua Project people group counts. For possible further information about these groups, please contact us.

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
People Group ▲	Population	Progress Scale	Primary Language	Primary Religion
Mongolian	300	1 ●	Mongolian, Peripheral	Buddhism
Tatar	500	1 ●	Tatar	Islam
Totals: 2

For more information see the Joshua Project Small People Group Policy

Download Data Data Sources Definitions

Prayer Cards

RELIGIONS ▲	Percent
Buddhism	0.0 %
Christianity (Evangelical 0.0 %)	0.1 %
Ethnic Religions	0.0 %
Hinduism	0.0 %
Islam	99.8 %
Non-Religious	0.0 %
Other / Small Religions	0.1 %
Unknown	0.0 %

CHRISTIAN SEGMENTS ▲	Percent
Anglican	0.5 %
Independent	35.7 %
Orthodox	4.1 %
Other Christian	12.2 %
Protestant	17.9 %
Roman Catholic	22.7 %

Notes:

Major Religions: Religion percentages are derived from summing Joshua Project's data for all people groups who live in each country. The number of individuals who practice each religion, by people group, are summed. This number is divided by the country's total population to derive the religion's percentage.

Christianity Segments: Christian segment percentages are derived from summing Joshua Project's data for all the people groups who live in each country. The number of individuals who practice each segment of Christianity, by people group, are summed. This number is divided by the country's total number of Christians to derive the Christian segment's percentage.

Networking Possibilities

Search the Web
There are many agencies and churches looking for additional staff to help them in their mission and calling in Afghanistan. Internet searches are probably the best way to find these organizations. The following are some example search topics you might try:

Church planting agencies in Afghanistan
Christian ministry in Afghanistan
Business as mission
Christian literature distribution
Evangelism agencies
Christian discipleship
Short term Christian missions

Long term Christian missions
Urban ministries
Christian media opportunities
Bible translation opportunities
Relief and development agencies
Clean water projects
Christian medical outreaches

Afghanistan Statistics
People Groups	78
Unreached People Groups	73 (93.6%)
Population	33,269,000
Population in Unreached	33,250,000 (99.9%)
Urbanization	26%
Continent	Asia
Region	Central Asia
10/40 Window	Yes
Country Code	AF
Official National Language	Pashto, Southern
Secondary National Language	Dari
Literacy Rate	38%
Estimated Illiterate Population	20,627,000
Primary Religion	Islam
Percent Professing Christian	0.1%
Percent Evangelical	0.0%
Country Progress Level	1 ●
Persecution Ranking	4 (1=High to 50=Low OD)

Afghanistan Prayer Cards
	Afghanistan prayer cards. All Unreached

Afghanistan Links
Operation World
World Factbook
Ethnologue Language Listing
Religious Freedom Report
Window International Country Profile

Afghanistan Maps
Political Map (UN)
Language Map (Ethnologue)
Ethnolinguistic Map (Univ of Texas)
East Afghanistan Tribal Map (Source: NPS)
South Afghanistan Tribal Map (Source: NPS)
Perry-Castaneda Map Collection

Afghanistan Prayer Videos
Prayercast Video

Level	Description	Criteria
1	Unreached - Few evangelicals and few who identify as Christians. Little, if any, history of Christianity.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians <= 5%
2	Formerly or falsely reached - Few evangelicals, but many who identify as Christians. In great need of spiritual renewal and commitment to biblical faith.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians > 50%
3	Minimally reached - Few evangelicals, but significant number who identify as Christians.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians > 5% and <= 50%
4	Partially reached - Evangelicals have a modest presence.	Evangelicals > 2% and <= 10%
5	Significantly reached - Evangelicals have a significant presence.	Evangelicals > 10%