German Paraguayans
The coat of arms of the city of San Bernardino, a German-founded town in Paraguay, displays the German and Paraguayan flags. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 450,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Asunción, Itapúa Department and Boquerón Department. | |
| Languages | |
| Paraguayan Spanish, Guaraní, German, Hunsrik, Plautdietsch | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (mostly Roman Catholic and Protestantism), Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| German diaspora, German Canadians, German-Chileans, German-Argentinians, German-Brazilian, German Uruguayan, German Americans, Russia Germans |
The German minority in Paraguay came into existence with immigration during the industrial age. The "Nueva Germania" colony was founded in Paraguay in 1888; though regarded as a failure, it still exists despite being abandoned by many of its founders in the 1890s. Paraguay was a popular place for German leaders accused of war crimes to retreat after the second World War. There are large communities of German descendants living in the central Paraguayan department of Guairá, in a town called Colonia Independencia, in the northern Paraguayan department capital city of Filadelfia and in the southern Paraguayan cities of Encarnación, Obligado, Bella Vista, Fram, Pilar, San Ignacio, Coronel Bogado and Hohenau. Some recent immigrants from other countries to Paraguay also have German ancestry. Notable Paraguayans of German descent include the former president of Paraguay Alfredo Stroessner. The German Paraguayans are one of the most prominent and growing German communities in South America, with some 25,000 German-speaking Mennonites living in the Paraguayan Chaco.