Boquerón is a department in the western region of Paraguay. It is the country's largest department, with an area of 91,669 km2 (35,394 sq mi), but, according to the statistics for 2021 by INE, its population is only 68,080, being the second least populated department. The department includes the Russian Mennonite colonies of Fernheim, Menno and its administrative center Loma Plata and Neuland. The capital is Filadelfia. Other towns are General Eugenio A. Garay, Doctor Pedro P. Peña and Mariscal Estigarribia.
The Russian Mennonites are a group of Mennonites who are the descendants of Dutch and North German Anabaptists who settled in the Vistula delta in West Prussia for about 250 years and established colonies in the Russian Empire beginning in 1789. Since the late 19th century, many of them have emigrated to countries which are located throughout the Western Hemisphere. The rest of them were forcibly relocated, so very few of their descendants currently live in the locations of the original colonies. Russian Mennonites are traditionally multilingual but Plautdietsch is their first language as well as their lingua franca. In 2014, there were several hundred thousand Russian Mennonites: about 200,000 live in Germany, 74,122 live in Mexico, 150,000 in Bolivia, 40,000 live in Paraguay, 10,000 live in Belize, tens of thousands of them live in Canada and the US, and a few thousand live in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.
Filadelfia is the capital of Boquerón Department in the Gran Chaco of western Paraguay. It is the centre of the Fernheim Colony. The city lies about 450 kilometres (280 mi) northwest of the capital Asunción. With a population of about 20,000, it is the largest town in the 400 kilometer radius, and accounts for almost a third of the departmental population.
Nueva Helvecia is a city in Colonia Department of Uruguay.
Menno Colony is a Mennonite settlement located in the central part of the Chaco region, in northwest Paraguay, occupying an area of 7500 km² (2900 mi²). It was founded in 1926 by Plautdietsch-speaking descendants of Russian Mennonites who emigrated from Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Neighbouring Mennonite settlements are Fernheim Colony and Neuland Colony. The main settlement of the colony is Loma Plata. Menno is the largest of the Mennonite colonies in Paraguay.
The Fernheim Colony is a Plautdietsch-speaking settlement of Mennonites originally from Russia of about 5000 in the Chaco of Paraguay. Mennonites from the Soviet Union founded it between 1930 and 1932. Filadelfia is the administrative center of the colony, seat of Boquerón department and is considered the 'Capital of the Chaco'.
Neuland Colony is a Mennonite settlement in Paraguay. After thousands of Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites fled the Soviet Union during the Great Trek of World War II, many were left displaced by the war. In response to this need, land in Boquerón Department was purchased by the Mennonite Central Committee in 1947 and settled by these same Mennonite refugees from Europe. As of 2008 the colony had about 3,400 residents.
German Argentines are Argentines of German ancestry as well as German citizens living in Argentina. They are descendants of Germans who immigrated to Argentina from Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Some German Argentines originally settled in Brazil, then later immigrated to Argentina. Although Germany as a political entity was founded in 1871, the German language and culture have traditionally been more important than the country of origin, as the basis of the ethnic and national consciousness of Germans. Today, German Argentines make up the fifth-largest ethnic group in Argentina, with over two million citizens of Volga German descent alone.
Colegio Alemán Alexander von Humboldt, A. C. is a network of German-language primary and secondary schools based in Greater Mexico City.
German Chileans are Chileans descended from German immigrants, about 70,000 of whom arrived in Chile between 1846 and 1914. Most of these were from Bavaria, Baden and the Rhineland, and also from Bohemia in present-day Czech Republic, which were traditionally Catholic. A smaller number of Lutherans immigrated to Chile following the failed revolutions of 1848.
Loma Plata is a city in the district (distrito) of the Department of Boquerón, Paraguay. It is located 407km from Asunción by a paved detour of 22km from the Ruta Transchaco. It is the main town of the Menno Colony, one of the Mennonite colonies of the Paraguayan Chaco.
The Mennonites in Bolivia are among the most traditional and conservative of all Mennonite denominations in South America. They are mostly Russian Mennonites of Frisian, Flemish, and Prussian descent. As of 2013, there were about 70,000 Mennonites living in Bolivia; that population has grown to around 150,000 as of 2023.
Mennonites in Paraguay are either Plautdietsch-speakers of mostly Flemish, Frisian and Prussian ancestry or, like the majority of Paraguayans, of mixed or Amerindian ancestry. Ethnic Mennonites contribute heavily to the agricultural and dairy output of Paraguay.
German Bolivians are Bolivians of full, partial, or predominantly German descent, or German-born people residing in Bolivia.
The German community in Uruguay numbers ca. 10,000 German expatriates and 40,000 people of German descent. Most of them live in the Montevideo area, although there are German minorities in Paysandú, Río Negro, San José and Canelones.
Mennonites in Argentina belong to two quite different groups: conservative and very conservative Plautdietsch-speaking group of Russian Mennonites who are descendants of Frisian, Flemish and Prussian people, and converts to the Mennonite faith from the general Argentinian population. The Russian Mennonites are the third largest community of Mennonites in South America, with six colonies in Argentina. While Russian Mennonites have their own language and customs and live in colonies, converts to the Mennonite faith normally live in cities and speak Spanish and do not differ much from other Protestants in Argentina. Conservative ethnic Mennonites normally do not engage in missionary activities but look for a quiet and remote place where they can live according to their tradition. More liberal Mennonites are engaged in worldwide missionary work like other North American Protestant denominations. About one third of Mennonites in Argentina are conservative ethnic Mennonites who belong to the Altkolonier branch.
Historically, the migratory history of Paraguay has been ambiguous, since it has had periods of large scale emigration as well as large waves of immigrants, primarily from Europe.
The history of the Jews in Paraguay has been characterised by migration of Jewish people, mainly from European countries, to the South American nation, and has resulted in the Jewish Paraguayan community numbering 1,000 today.
