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Paraguay - People

The US government estimates the total population at 6.8 million (July 2015 estimate). Paraguay's population is distributed unevenly throughout the country. The vast majority of the people live in the eastern region, most within 160 kilometers (100 mi.) of Asuncion, the capital and largest city. The Chaco, which accounts for about 60% of the territory, is home to less than 2% of the population.

Ethnically, culturally, and socially, Paraguay has one of the most homogeneous populations in South America. About 95% of the people are of mixed Spanish and Guarani Indian descent. Little trace is left of the original Guarani culture except the language, which is understood by 95% of the population. About 90% of all Paraguayans speak Spanish. Guarani and Spanish are official languages.

A contrast existed between rural and urban Paraguay and, even more pointedly, between Asuncion - where economic, social, and political trends originated — and the rest of Paraguay. In rural Paraguay a divide existed between those holding legal title to land, usually the owners of large estates dedicated to commercial farming, and the mass of peasant squatters growing crops largely for their families' subsistence. Similarly, there was a gulf between the elite — educated, prosperous, city-based and -bred — and the country's poor, whether rural or urban. Finally, although most Paraguayans retained their fluency in Guarani and this indigenous language continued to play a vital role in public life, there was a continuum of fluency in Spanish that paralleled (and reflected) the social hierarchy. These dichotomies not only continued into the 1980s but were exacerbated by the extensive, dramatic changes that had occurred in Paraguayan society since the 1960s.

Questions were raised as to whether education was a major bottleneck to development in Paraguay and whether the small Paraguayan economy can appropriately accommodate an increased number of educated job seekers. Given the limited economic opportunities in Paraguay and the country’s limited growth potential, there was the possibility that heavy emphasis on education could result in the creation of an unemployed mass of demi-intellectuals.

Paraguayans of all classes viewed family and kin as the center of the social universe. Anyone not related through blood or marriage was regarded with reserve, if not distrust. People expected to be able to call upon extended kin for assistance as necessary and counted on them for unswerving loyalty. Godparents (whether or not they were kin) were important as well in strengthening social links within the web of kinship.

Paraguay has traditionally welcomed immigrants and there are communities or colonies of Arabs, Germans, Koreans, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Japanese. Approximately 2,000 Americans live in Paraguay, most in Asunción. Brazilians, Argentines, Germans, Arabs, Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese are among those who have settled in Paraguay with Brazilians representing the largest number. Many Brazilians live in Paraguay along the Brazil-Paraguay border.

Paraguay has one of the lowest population densities in the world. Fewer than 5 percent of the population live west of the Paraguay River in the Chaco. About 51 percent live in rural areas, and the remaining 49 percent in urban areas. Much of Paraguay is sparsely populated; most inhabitants live within a 160-kilometer (100-mile) radius of the capital city Asunción. Asunción has a population of approximately 1,900,000. About 95 percent of the population is of Hispanic-Guaraní descent and 50 percent are less than 18 years old.

The Mestizo comprises about 95 percent of the population while other ethnic groups share the remaining five percent. Despite assimilation of the indigenous Indian population by the early Spanish explorers, some Indians prevailed in maintaining their traditional manner apart from the national culture.

Paraguayan society is unlike other Latin American societies, due to the unique synthesis of cultures. Paraguay is the only country on the continent where the white settlers and native Indians coexisted peacefully enough to eventually fuse and form a single nation. Thus, unlike many other countries of the region, Paraguay’s white minority does not form separate elite.

While society’s basic structure and institutions are Hispanic, the dominant language is Guaraní. Most Paraguayans speak both Spanish and Guaraní, with the former viewed as the national language, and the latter revered as “the language of the heart.” European immigrants to Paraguay are expected to learn Guaraní as a sign of their becoming truly Paraguayan, and efforts by visitors to say even a few words in this difficult language are deeply appreciated.

The nation’s elite is centered in Asunción and connected by ties of kinship and family affiliation with the political parties. Those considered powerful at27 tribute their success to extended family ties with military officers, businessmen, landowners, and others in political positions.

The Indian population is roughly estimated between 1.5 and 3 percent of the total population. Paraguay’s indigenous population comprised 17 tribal groups representing six language families. There are four tribes represented in Eastern Paraguay who speak varieties of Guaraní. The Chaco regions of Paraguay contain 13 tribes and represent the other five language families.

The law provides indigenous persons the right to participate in the economic, social, political, and cultural life of the country, but the law was not effectively enforced. Discrimination coupled with a lack of access to employment, education, health care, shelter, and sufficient land hindered the ability of indigenous persons to progress economically while maintaining their cultural identity.

According to the General Directorate of Statistics, Surveys, and Censuses (DGEEC), the average monthly income of the indigenous population in 2008 was approximately half that of the nonindigenous population. Indigenous populations made up a more significant percentage of the population within the Chaco region, and communities there often had more difficulty accessing government and judicial services and often faced political and economic exclusion.

Indigenous workers engaged as laborers on ranches earned low wages, worked long hours, received pay infrequently or not at all, and lacked medical or retirement benefits. This situation was particularly severe for indigenous persons engaged as laborers on ranches and estates in the Chaco region.

The National Institute for Indigenous Affairs (INDI), the Attorney General’s Office, Justice Ministry, Labor Ministry, and Ombudsman’s Office are responsible for protecting and promoting indigenous rights. In some instances INDI lacked sufficient funding to purchase land on behalf of indigenous persons and required them to register for land at its office in distant Asuncion.

The law authorizes indigenous persons to determine how to use their land, leading many of them to transfer or rent their land to nonindigenous persons, some of whom illegally harvested fish or deforested lands to cultivate fields of soybeans and other cash crops. There were also several reported cases of illegal deforestation of indigenous lands for charcoal production. There were insufficient police and judicial protections from encroachments on indigenous lands, and few indigenous communities held title to their ancestral lands. This often resulted in conflict between indigenous communities and large landowners in rural areas, which at times led to violence.