Paraguayans

Last updated
Paraguayans
Flag of Paraguay.svg
Regions with significant populations
Flag of Paraguay.svg  Paraguay      7,146,356
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 690,948 [1]
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 64,547 [1]
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 52,770 [1]
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 34,307 [1]
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 8,000 [2]
Languages
Paraguayan Spanish, Guarani, other indigenous languages, Portuguese German [3]
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, indigenous religions [4]

Paraguayans (Spanish : paraguayos) are the citizens of Paraguay.

Contents

Though the majority of Paraguayans reside in Paraguay, significant communities have been established in multiple countries, most noticeably Argentina, Spain, United States, Brazil.

History

The first inhabitants of Paraguay were the Guarani people. [5]

Racial and ethnic groups

As in other Latin American countries, in Paraguay, from the onset of Spanish colonization and settlement, miscegenation or mestizaje was the norm rather than the exception. Paraguay has one of the most homogeneous populations in South America. About 75% of the people are Whites, 20% are Mestizos, and the rest are small minorities of Indigenous or Afro Paraguayan origin. [6]

Main self-identified ethnic group (Lizcano Fernández) [6] [7]
Ancestry/colour
Whites
75%
Mestizos
20.0%
Black / mulatto
3.5%
Indigenous
1.5%
Asian
0.5%

European or white

Indigenous

While only a 1.7% of Paraguay's population is fully indigenous according to the 2012 national census, 75% of the population identifies as being partially of indigenous descent; [8] however, the majority do not identify as being indigenous but as Mestizos.

Languages

Paraguay is predominantly a bilingual country, as the majority of the population uses Spanish and Guaraní. The Constitution of Paraguay of 1992 established Spanish and Guaraní as official languages. [9] Spanish, an Indo-European language of the Romance branch, is understood by about 90% of the population as a first or second language. Guaraní, an indigenous language of the Tupian family, is understood by 77%, and its use is regulated by the Academy of the Guaraní Language. [10] [11]

According to Instituto Cervantes' 2020 report "El Español: Una lengua viva", 68.2% of the Paraguayan population (4,946,322 inhabitants) has decent mastery of the Spanish language. The remaining 31.8% (2,306,350 inhabitants) belongs to the Group of Limited Competence, having minimal mastery of the language; the majority of them are Guaraní speakers and speak Spanish as a second language. [12] Only 7.93% are monolingual in Guaraní. [13]

Population

#DepartmentPopulation (2022 census) [14]
1 Flag of Central Department, Paraguay.svg Central 1 866 562
2 Flag of Alto Parana Department.svg Alto Paraná 784 839
3 Flag of Asuncion.svg Asunción 477 346
4 Itapflag.PNG Itapúa 436 966
5 Flag of Caaguazu Department.svg Caaguazú 430 142
6 Bandera del Departamento de San Pedro.JPG San Pedro 341 895
7 Bandera del Departamento de Cordillera.JPG Cordillera 271 475
8 Flag of Concepcion Department.svg Concepción 204 536
9 Bandera del Departamento de Paraguari.JPG Paraguarí 199 430
10 Flag of Canindeyu Department.svg Canindeyú 189 128
11 Flag of Guaira Department.svg Guairá 180 121
12 Flag of Amambay.svg Amambay 173 770
13 Flag of Caazapa Department.svg Caazapá 140 060
14 Bandera del Departamento de Presidente Hayes.JPG Presidente Hayes 126 880
15 Bandera del Departamento de Misiones.JPG Misiones 114 542
16 Bandera del Departamento de Neembucu.jpg Ñeembucú 85 749
17 Bandera de Boqueron.png Boquerón 68 595
18 Bandera de Alto Paraguay.png Alto Paraguay 17 608
Total6 109 644

Sex

Classification

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Paraguay - Emigrantes totales 2019 - Datosmacro.com" (in Spanish).
  2. "Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination". Migration Policy Institute .
  3. "Paraguay - World Directory of Minorities & Indigenous Peoples".
  4. "Paraguayans".
  5. "history - PARAGUAY".
  6. 1 2 Francisco Lizcano Fernández (2005). "Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI" [Ethnic Composition of the Three Cultural Areas of the American Continent at the Beginning of the 21st Century]. Convergencia. Revista de Ciencias Sociales (in Spanish). 12 (38): 185–232.
  7. Lizcano Fernández, Francisco (2004). "Las etnias centroamericanas en la segunda mitad del siglo XX" (PDF). Revista Mexicana del Caribe. IX (17). Retrieved 2011-05-04.
  8. "Paraguay: Ethnic Groups." CIA: The World Factbook. (retrieved 12 July 2011)
  9. "Paraguay - Constitution, Article 140 About Languages" . Retrieved 3 December 2007 via International Constitutional Law Project. (see translator's note)
  10. "Paraguay". 1 June 2011. Archived from the original on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  11. Espinoza, Ariel (24 August 2012). "Guaraní: Identidad histórica paraguaya". ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  12. Instituto Cervantes. El español: una lengua viva. Informe 2020 (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2023 via cvc.cervantes.es.
  13. Instituto Cervantes. El español: una lengua viva. Informe 2020 (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2023 via cvc.cervantes.es.
  14. "Censo Nacional de Población y Viviendas 2022 - Resultados Preliminares" (PDF). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.