Paraguayans

Paraguayans
Flag of Paraguay
Regions with significant populations
 Paraguay     6,109,644 (2022 census)[1]
 Argentina690,948[2]
 Brazil68,650[3]
 Spain64,547[2]
 United States34,307[2]
 Canada8,000[4]
 Japan2,215[5]
Languages
Paraguayan Spanish, Guarani, other indigenous languages, Portuguese German[6]
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, indigenous religions[7]

Paraguayans (Spanish: paraguayos) are the citizens of Paraguay.[8]

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.[9]

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 mestizo (mixed Spanish and Guaraní Native American descent), 20% are Whites, and the rest are small minorities of Indigenous or Afro Paraguayan origin.[10]

Main self-identified ethnic group (Lizcano Fernández)[10][11]
Ancestry/colour
Mestizo
 
 74.5%
White
 
 20.0%
Black / mulatto
 
 3.5%
Indigenous
 
 1.5%
Asian
 
 0.5%

European or white

Main article: White Paraguayans

Indigenous

Main article: Indigenous peoples in Paraguay

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;[12] 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.[13] 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.[14][15]

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.[16] Only 7.93% are monolingual in Guaraní.[17]

Population

# Department Population (2022 census)[18]
1 Central 1 866 562
2 Alto Paraná 784 839
3 Asunción 477 346
4 Itapúa 436 966
5 Caaguazú 430 142
6 San Pedro 341 895
7 Cordillera 271 475
8 Concepción 204 536
9 Paraguarí 199 430
10 Canindeyú 189 128
11 Guairá 180 121
12 Amambay 173 770
13 Caazapá 140 060
14 Presidente Hayes 126 880
15 Misiones 114 542
16 Ñeembucú 85 749
17 Boquerón 68 595
18 Alto Paraguay 17 608
Total 6 109 644

Sex

  • Men: 3 078 994: 50,3%
  • Women: 3 030 650: 49,7%

Classification

Main article: Paraguayan nationality law

See also

References

  1. ^ "Paraguay has 6,109,644 inhabitants, according to the last Census". ABC Color (in Spanish). 31 August 2023. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Paraguay - Emigrantes totales 2019 - Datosmacro.com" (in Spanish).
  3. ^ Immigrants in Brazil (2024, in Portuguese)
  4. ^ "Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination". Migration Policy Institute.
  5. ^ "在留外国人統計（旧登録外国人統計）" (in Japanese). 15 December 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Paraguay - World Directory of Minorities & Indigenous Peoples".
  7. ^ "Paraguayans".
  8. ^ Ethnic Groups of the Americas: An Encyclopedia.
  9. ^ "history - PARAGUAY".
  10. ^ a b 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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ "Paraguay: Ethnic Groups." CIA: The World Factbook. (retrieved 12 July 2011)
  13. ^ "Paraguay - Constitution, Article 140 About Languages". Retrieved 3 December 2007 – via International Constitutional Law Project. (see translator's note)
  14. ^ "Paraguay". 1 June 2011. Archived from the original on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  15. ^ Espinoza, Ariel (24 August 2012). "Guaraní: Identidad histórica paraguaya". ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  16. ^ Instituto Cervantes. El español: una lengua viva. Informe 2020 (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2023 – via cvc.cervantes.es.
  17. ^ Instituto Cervantes. El español: una lengua viva. Informe 2020 (PDF). Retrieved 2 December 2023 – via cvc.cervantes.es.
  18. ^ "Censo Nacional de Población y Viviendas 2022 - Resultados Preliminares" (PDF). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
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