Who the Uzbek are
The Uzbek are the largest people of Central Asia, the majority in Uzbekistan with large communities in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and beyond. Samarkand and Bukhara, once great cities of the Silk Road, are part of their heritage, and Islam is closely bound to Uzbek identity.
After the Soviet era a small Uzbek church emerged, and the full Bible is now available in Uzbek. But unregistered religious activity is tightly controlled, believers from a Muslim background face family and community pressure, and in Afghanistan Uzbek believers face far greater danger.
Signs of hope
The full Uzbek Bible and a small, resilient Uzbek-speaking church.
The honest difficulty
Strict state control of religious activity and strong family and community pressure on converts.
What "Frontier" means
Fewer than 1 in 1,000 follow Jesus, and there is no indigenous movement large enough to grow on its own. Most people in this group will never meet a Christian.
This describes access to the Gospel, not the worth of a people or the sincerity of anyone's faith.
How to pray for the Uzbek
Take one of these for a week rather than all of them for a day.
- Pray for the Uzbek church to grow in courage and maturity.
- Pray for families who reject relatives who follow Jesus.
- Pray for Uzbek believers in Afghanistan, in great danger.
- Ask God to open the cities of the old Silk Road to the Gospel again.
Where the Uzbek live
Each nation profile carries church size, unreached peoples, what is going well, what is hard, and four prayer points.
Questions people ask about the Uzbek
Who are the Uzbek people?
The Uzbek (also called Northern Uzbek) are a people group of roughly 35 million, living mainly in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan. They speak Uzbek and are predominantly Islam (Sunni). The largest people of Central Asia, at the heart of the old Silk Road — with a small, pressured church. Population figures for people groups vary considerably by source and by how a group is defined.
Are the Uzbek an unreached people group?
The Uzbek are classified as frontier. Fewer than 1 in 1,000 follow Jesus, and there is no indigenous movement large enough to grow on its own. Most people in this group will never meet a Christian. Scripture status: Full Bible in Uzbek.
How can I pray for the Uzbek?
Pray for the Uzbek church to grow in courage and maturity. Pray for families who reject relatives who follow Jesus. Take one of these for a week rather than all of them for a day.