Turkey

Country: Turkey

Number of People Groups

People Groups Unreached

45 (66.2%)

Progress Level

The Joshua Project Progress Scale is an estimate of the progress of church planting among a people group, people cluster, country or language. The Progress Scale is derived from people group values for percent Evangelical and percent Christian Adherent.

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	Minimally reached - Few evangelicals, but significant number who identify as Christians.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians > 5% and <= 50%
3	Superficially 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%
4	Partially reached - Evangelicals have a modest presence.	Evangelicals > 2% and <= 10%
5	Significantly reached - Evangelicals have a significant presence.	Evangelicals > 10%

Total
Population

84,249,000

Population in Unreached

83,499,000 (99.1%)

Largest Religion

Islam (96.2%)

% Christian Adherent

0.6%

% Evangelical

0.04%

Evangelical Annual Growth Rate

1.2%

(Global Rate = 2.6%)

Map Notes

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼

Progress Scale: ●●●●●
☀
= Frontier peoples
People Group ▲	Population this Country	Global Population	Indigenous	Primary Language	Primary Religion	Progress Scale	% Christian Adherent	% Evangelical	Est. Workers Needed *
Abaza	14,000	73,000		Abaza	Islam	1 ●	0.20 %	0.00 %	1
Abkhaz	164,000	305,000	●	Abkhaz	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	3
Adyghe	350,000	689,000		Adyghe	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	7
Alawite	554,000	1,978,000	●	Arabic, North Levantine Spoken	Islam	0 ☀	0.03 %	0.01 %	11
Albanian	73,000	5,179,000		Albanian, Gheg	Islam	2 ●	30.00 %	0.55 %	-1 -
Americans, U.S.	25,000	192,802,000		English	Christianity	5 ●	77.00 %	29.00 %	-1 -
Arab, Iraqi	112,000	16,842,000		Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken	Islam	1 ●	0.50 %	0.20 %	2
Arab, Lebanese	100,000	7,633,000		Arabic, North Levantine Spoken	Islam	1 ●	0.50 %	0.10 %	2
Arab, North Iraqi	568,000	10,105,000		Arabic, North Mesopotamian Spoken	Islam	1 ●	0.50 %	0.10 %	11
Arab, Syrian	587,000	16,175,000		Arabic, North Levantine Spoken	Islam	1 ●	5.00 %	0.40 %	12
Armenian	67,000	6,249,000		Armenian, Western	Christianity	4 ●	94.00 %	8.00 %	-1 -
Assyrian	28,000	850,000		Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	Christianity	4 ●	95.00 %	2.91 %	-1 -
Azerbaijani, Azeri Turk	590,000	17,452,000		Azerbaijani, South	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	12
Bosniak	112,000	2,820,000		Bosnian	Islam	0 ☀	0.10 %	0.00 %	2
British	38,000	53,901,000		English	Christianity	4 ●	61.00 %	8.00 %	-1 -
Bulgarian	7,400	6,817,000		Bulgarian	Christianity	3 ●	80.00 %	1.90 %	-1 -
Chechen	112,000	1,726,000		Chechen	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	2
Deaf	422,000	47,601,000	●	Turkish Sign Language	Islam	1 ●	0.21 %	-1	8
Dutch	34,000	15,345,000		Dutch	Non-Religious	4 ●	48.00 %	4.20 %	-1 -
French	30,000	50,524,000		French	Christianity	3 ●	63.00 %	1.00 %	-1 -
Gagauzi Turk	5,300	176,000		Gagauz	Christianity	3 ●	90.00 %	2.00 %	-1 -
Gajal, Gadzhal	18,000	18,000	●	Turkish	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Georgian	167,000	3,514,000		Georgian	Christianity	3 ●	55.00 %	0.50 %	-1 -
German	6,100	66,334,000		German, Standard	Christianity	4 ●	65.00 %	2.10 %	-1 -
Greek	4,000	10,235,000		Greek	Christianity	3 ●	91.00 %	0.40 %	-1 -
Han Chinese, Mandarin	42,000	882,277,000		Chinese, Mandarin	Non-Religious	4 ●	6.00 %	5.70 %	-1 -
Hemshin	22,000	25,000	●	Turkish	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Herki	43,000	107,000	●	Kurdish, Northern	Islam	1 ●	0.30 %	0.00 %	1
Hertevin	1,300	1,300	●	Hertevin	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	0.00 %	-1 -
Hungarian	800	11,495,000		Hungarian	Christianity	4 ●	89.00 %	2.80 %	-1 -
Italian	1,800	38,274,000		Italian	Christianity	3 ●	83.00 %	1.10 %	-1 -
Jew, Spanish	16,000	62,000		Ladino	Ethnic Religions	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Jew, Turkish	5,500	52,000	●	Turkish	Ethnic Religions	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Kabardian	1,177,000	1,992,000	●	Kabardian	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	24
Karachai	21,000	253,000		Karachay-Balkar	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Karakalpak	74,000	874,000		Karakalpak	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Kazakh, Qazaqi	8,500	15,659,000		Kazakh	Islam	0 ☀	0.10 %	0.03 %	1
Kumyk	1,600	445,000		Kumyk	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Kurd, Kurmanji	8,960,000	15,724,000	●	Kurdish, Northern	Islam	0 ☀	0.01 %	0.00 %	179
Kurd, Turkish-speaking	6,301,000	6,301,000	●	Turkish	Islam	0 ☀	0.01 %	0.00 %	126
Kyrgyz	1,700	5,669,000		Kyrgyz	Islam	1 ●	5.00 %	0.70 %	1
Laz, Lazuri	103,000	105,000	●	Laz	Islam	1 ●	2.00 %	0.20 %	2
Lezgin	3,300	664,000		Lezgi	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Macedonian	46,000	1,925,000		Macedonian	Christianity	3 ●	65.00 %	0.20 %	-1 -
Ossetic	41,000	575,000		Ossetic	Islam	2 ●	6.00 %	0.30 %	-1 -
Persian	685,000	41,809,000	●	Persian, Iranian	Islam	1 ●	0.30 %	0.10 %	14
Pomak	376,000	478,000	●	Bulgarian	Islam	1 ●	2.00 %	0.40 %	8
Pontic Greek	5,000	390,000	●	Pontic	Islam	1 ●	5.00 %	0.00 %	1
Romani, Balkan	73,000	1,239,000		Romani, Balkan	Islam	1 ●	4.50 %	0.50 %	1
Romani, Domari	35,000	3,505,000	●	Domari	Islam	1 ●	1.00 %	0.20 %	1
Romanian	10,000	20,387,000		Romanian	Christianity	4 ●	97.00 %	5.40 %	-1 -
Russian	36,000	133,971,000		Russian	Christianity	3 ●	68.00 %	1.20 %	-1 -
Serb	9,700	10,002,000		Serbian	Christianity	3 ●	80.00 %	0.60 %	-1 -
Shikaki	26,000	55,000	●	Kurdish, Northern	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Spaniard	1,200	29,004,000		Spanish	Christianity	3 ●	65.00 %	1.00 %	-1 -
Syrian Aramaic, Turoyo	74,000	177,000	●	Turoyo	Christianity	3 ●	88.00 %	0.90 %	-1 -
Tatar	29,000	6,422,000		Tatar	Islam	1 ●	0.50 %	0.00 %	1
Tatar, Crimean	110,000	607,000		Crimean Tatar	Islam	0 ☀	0.05 %	0.01 %	2
Turk	59,258,000	63,323,000	●	Turkish	Islam	0 ☀	0.01 %	0.00 %	1,185
Turk, Meskhetian	22,000	273,000	●	Turkish	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Turkmen	1,600	7,886,000		Turkmen	Islam	1 ●	1.50 %	0.00 %	1
Urdu	24,000	1,930,000		Urdu	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Uyghur	900	12,350,000		Uyghur	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Uzbek, Southern	4,200	4,395,000		Uzbek, Southern	Islam	1 ●	0.50 %	0.10 %	1
Yazidi	2,800	723,000	●	Kurdish, Northern	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Yoruk	463,000	468,000	●	Balkan Gagauz Turkish	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	9
Zaza-Alevi	200,000	231,000	●	Zazaki, Northern	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	4
Zaza-Dimli	1,740,000	1,740,000	●	Zazaki, Southern	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	35
Totals: 68	84,249,000					45 ●	0.60 %	0.04 %	1,683
Unclassified / Other Individuals	90,000
UN Country Population (2020)	84,339,000

Other minor groups: 3

Very small groups reported, but outside the Joshua Project Small Group Policy. Some may not be viable and/or have incorrect Progress Scale values, population, language and religion information. The groups listed below are not included in overall Joshua Project people group counts. If you have information about these groups, please contact us.

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
People Group ▲	Progress Scale	Population	Primary Language	Primary Religion
Chaldean, Neo-Aramaic	2 ●	300	Chaldean Neo-Aramaic	Christianity
Estonian	2 ●	-1 Unknown	Estonian	Christianity
Lak, Laki	1 ●	400	Lak	Islam
Totals: 3

For more information see the Joshua Project Small Group Policy

* An estimate of the number of pioneer workers needed for initial church planting among unreached people groups by country. Estimates are calculated only for unreached people groups and are based on ratio of 1 worker for every 50,000 individuals living in an unreached people group by country. Some workers may already be onsite. Many more workers are needed beyond this initial estimate.

Download Data Data Sources Definitions

Prayer Cards

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
Provinces ▲	Estimated Population
Adana	2,190,000
Adiyaman	605,000
Afyon	714,000
Agri	555,000
Aksaray	326,000
Amasya	326,000
Ankara	5,206,000
Antalya	5,206,000
Ardahan	102,000
Artvin	172,000
Aydin	1,053,000
Balikesir	1,202,000
Bartın	191,000
Batman	564,000
Bayburt	82,000
Bilecik	212,000
Bingol	269,000
Bitlis	342,000
Bolu	288,000
Burdur	260,000
Bursa	2,818,000
Canakkale	518,000
Cankiri	186,000
Corum	533,000
Denizli	990,000
Diyarbakir	1,653,000
Duzce	360,000
Edirne	404,000
Elazıg	575,000
Erzincan	226,000
Erzurum	771,000
Eskisehir	821,000
Gaziantep	1,910,000
Giresun	435,000
Gumushane	148,000
Hakkari	279,000
Hatay	1,537,000
Igdır	194,000
Isparta	424,000
Istanbul	14,534,000
Izmir	4,158,000
K. Maras	1,101,000
Karabuk	234,000
Karaman	243,000
Kars	299,000
Kastamonu	373,000
Kayseri	1,336,000
Kilis	130,000
Kinkkale	284,000
Kirklareli	348,000
Kirsehir	225,000
Kocaeli	1,742,000
Konya	2,132,000
Kutahya	578,000
Malatya	778,000
Manisa	1,383,000
Mardin	798,000
Mersin	1,746,000
Mugla	905,000
Mus	415,000
Nevsehir	289,000
Nigde	348,000
Ordu	732,000
Osmaniye	513,000
Rize	334,000
Sakarya	943,000
Samsun	1,284,000
Sanliurfa	1,866,000
Siirt	321,000
Sinop	207,000
Sirnak	494,000
Sivas	630,000
Tekirdag	917,000
Tokat	605,000
Trabzon	775,000
Tunceli	88,000
Usak	353,000
Van	1,098,000
Yalova	229,000
Yozgat	438,000
Zinguldak	606,000
Provinces: 81	81,459,000
UN Country Population	84,339,000

Turkey Prayer Cards
	Turkey prayer cards. All Unreached

Turkey Links
Operation World
Open Doors Persecution Ranking
World Factbook
God Reports (stories from the field)
Religious Freedom Report
UN Human Development Report
Ethnologue Language Listing
National Bible Society

Turkey Maps
Language Map (Ethnologue)
Perry-Castaneda Map Collection

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
Class ▲	Population	% Popl	% Hindu	% Muslim	% Christian	% Buddhist	% Sikh	% Other
Forward Caste (FC)	287,717,000	341.5 %	97.3 %	0.0 %	1.1 %	0.1 %	0.0 %	1.5 %
Other Backward Classes (OBC)	765,974,000	909.2 %	70.6 %	24.5 %	1.7 %	0.1 %	2.3 %	0.8 %
Scheduled Caste (SC)	205,728,000	244.2 %	93.5 %	0.0 %	0.5 %	3.4 %	2.6 %	0.0 %
Scheduled Tribe (ST)	114,522,000	135.9 %	81.9 %	1.5 %	9.2 %	0.8 %	0.0 %	6.7 %
	84,249,000

Why Use Caste to Define Peoples?

South Asia Communities / Castes: An Overview

A History of South Asia People Group Lists

Why Include Religion When Defining South Asia Peoples?

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	Minimally reached - Few evangelicals, but significant number who identify as Christians.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians > 5% and <= 50%
3	Superficially 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%
4	Partially reached - Evangelicals have a modest presence.	Evangelicals > 2% and <= 10%
5	Significantly reached - Evangelicals have a significant presence.	Evangelicals > 10%

Progress Scale

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
Language ▲	Code	# Peoples Primary Language	# Unreached Primary Language	Scripture Status	NT Text Online	NT Audio Online	Jesus Film Online	Audio Recordings Online	Gospel Tract Online
Abaza	abq	1	1	0 Unspecified	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Abkhaz	abk	1	1	4 New Testament	-1	-1	1	-1	-1
Adyghe	ady	1	1	4 New Testament	-1	-1	1	1	1
Albanian, Gheg	aln	1	0	4 New Testament	1	1	1	1	1
Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken	acm	1	1	4 New Testament	-1	1	1	1	-1
Arabic, North Levantine Spoken	apc	3	3	3 Bible Portions	-1	-1	-1	1	-1
Arabic, North Mesopotamian Spoken	ayp	1	1	4 New Testament	-1	1	1	1	-1
Armenian, Western	hyw	1	0	5 Complete Bible	-1	-1	-1	1	-1
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic	aii	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Azerbaijani, South	azb	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Balkan Gagauz Turkish	bgx	1	1	1 Translation Needed	-1	-1	-1	1	-1
Bosnian	bos	1	1	5 Complete Bible	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Bulgarian	bul	2	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Chechen	che	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Chinese, Mandarin	cmn	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Crimean Tatar	crh	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Domari	rmt	1	1	3 Bible Portions	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Dutch	nld	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
English	eng	2	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
French	fra	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Gagauz	gag	1	0	4 New Testament	-1	1	1	-1	-1
Georgian	kat	1	0	5 Complete Bible	-1	1	1	1	-1
German, Standard	deu	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Greek	ell	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Hertevin	hrt	1	0	0 Unspecified	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Hungarian	hun	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Italian	ita	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Kabardian	kbd	1	1	4 New Testament	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Karachay-Balkar	krc	1	1	4 New Testament	-1	1	1	1	-1
Karakalpak	kaa	1	1	4 New Testament	1	1	1	1	-1
Kazakh	kaz	1	1	5 Complete Bible	-1	1	1	1	1
Kumyk	kum	1	1	4 New Testament	1	1	1	1	1
Kurdish, Northern	kmr	4	4	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Kyrgyz	kir	1	1	5 Complete Bible	-1	1	1	1	-1
Ladino	lad	1	1	5 Complete Bible	-1	-1	-1	1	-1
Laz	lzz	1	1	0 Unspecified	-1	-1	-1	1	-1
Lezgi	lez	1	1	4 New Testament	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Macedonian	mkd	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Ossetic	oss	1	0	5 Complete Bible	-1	1	1	1	-1
Persian, Iranian	pes	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Pontic	pnt	1	1	1 Translation Needed	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Romani, Balkan	rmn	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	-1	1	1	-1
Romanian	ron	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Russian	rus	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Serbian	srp	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Spanish	spa	1	0	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Tatar	tat	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Turkish	tur	6	6	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Turkish Sign Language	tsm	1	1	1 Translation Needed	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Turkmen	tuk	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Turoyo	tru	1	0	4 New Testament	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Urdu	urd	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Uyghur	uig	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Uzbek, Southern	uzs	1	1	4 New Testament	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Zazaki, Northern	kiu	1	1	3 Bible Portions	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Zazaki, Southern	diq	1	1	0 Unspecified	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Totals:	56	68	45		29	36	46	49	21

MAJOR RELIGIONS ▲	Percent
Buddhism	0.0 %
Christianity (Evangelical 0.0 %)	0.6 %
Ethnic Religions	0.0 %
Hinduism	0.0 %
Islam	96.2 %
Non-Religious	3.1 %
Other / Small Religions	0.0 %
Unknown	0.0 %

CHRISTIAN SEGMENTS ▲	Percent
Anglican	2.8 %
Independent	1.3 %
Orthodox	67.6 %
Other Christian	1.5 %
Protestant	3.7 %
Roman Catholic	10.6 %

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 Turkey. 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 Turkey
Christian ministry in Turkey
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

Turkey Statistics
People Groups	68
Unreached People Groups	45 (66.2%)
Population	84,249,000
Population Annual Growth Rate	1.0%
Population in Unreached	83,499,000 (99.1%)
Primary Religion	Islam
Percent Christian Adherent	0.6%
Percent Evangelical	0.0%
Evangelical Annual Growth Rate	1.2%
Pioneer Workers Needed *	1,683
Country Progress Level	1 ●
Urbanization	75%
Continent	Asia
Region	Asia, Central
10/40 Window	Yes
Country Code	TU
Official Language(s)	Turkish
Literacy Rate	96%
Estimated Illiterate Population	3,370,000
Persecution Ranking	36 (1=High to 50=Low OD)

Turkey Prayer Cards
	Turkey prayer cards. All Unreached

Turkey Links
Operation World
Open Doors Persecution Ranking
World Factbook
God Reports (stories from the field)
Religious Freedom Report
UN Human Development Report
Ethnologue Language Listing
National Bible Society

Turkey Maps
Language Map (Ethnologue)
Perry-Castaneda Map Collection

Turkey Videos
Turkey Prayercast Video

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