Demographics of Paraguay

Paraguay population pyramid in 2020

This article discusses the demographic features of the population of Paraguay, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Characteristics[]

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The Paraguay's predominant ancestry is European, which represents a large part of the population, mainly descendants of Spaniards and Italians (who have contributed to repopulating the country after the Triple Alliance War) but there are also a large number of people of German ancestry, due to the German Mennonites (majority in the western part of the territory). There are 17 Mennonite colonies, only in the Paraguayan Chaco. It is one of the Latin American countries with the least indigenous traits (due to the fact that the traditional Paraguayan population - the Spanish mixture of Guaraní - has been annihilated by the war in 1870, which is why the country had to repopulate by resorting to immigration, especially the Italian in that country. period) Taking into account the high fertility, Paraguay registers a majority young population structure. Of every ten people, four are under the age of 15 (2,339,000) and the population aged 15 to 29 represents a quarter of the total population. According to the Census (ECLAC, 1998), the population of indigenous nature that year was 29,482 people, that is, about 0.7% of the national population. There is a low percentage of people with distinctively Amerindian features and the absence of people with African features. The majority of the population is made up of mestizos who are descendants of the original population, the Guarani, and Europeans. Paraguay Embassy in Germany^[2]

Paraguay's population is distributed unevenly through the country. The vast majority of the people live in the eastern region, most within 160 kilometres (99 mi) of Asunción, the capital and largest city, which borders on Argentina to the south and west. The Gran Chaco in the north-west, which accounts for about 60% of Paraguayan territory, is home to less than 2% of the population. The Paraguay government encouraged^[when?] massive settlement of the vast Gran Chaco.

Ethnically, culturally, and socially, Paraguay has one of the most homogeneous populations in South America. About 95% of the people are mestizo (mixed Spanish and Guaraní Native American descent) and whites.^[3] Little trace is left of the original Guaraní culture except the language, which is spoken by 90% of the population. About 75% of all Paraguayans also speak Spanish. Guaraní and Spanish are official languages.

Some demographers^[which?] contend that the total "mostly white" percentage has grown in the last century as a result of European immigration, and white people are now estimated^{[by whom?]} at 20% or one-fifth of the country's population.^{[citation needed]}

Not completely homogeneous, Paraguay has a history of other settlement, especially in the 20th century: Germans (the majority are Mennonites) with long-time Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner (President, 1954-1989) himself of German ancestry; Italians (around 40% of the total Paraguayan population is of full or partial Italian descent);^[4] Japanese with Okinawans; Koreans; Chinese; Arabs, Ukrainians; Poles; Southern Europeans; Jews; Brazilians; and Argentines are among those who have settled in Paraguay. There are also an estimated 234,000 Afro-Paraguayans, or 4% of the population.^[5]

European and Middle Eastern immigrants began making their way to Paraguay in the decades following the Paraguayan War of 1864-1870 (from 1870 onward). Only 28,000 men and 200,000 women had survived the war, the reason why Paraguay had since then a high rate of illegitimate births. The government pursued a pro-immigration policy in an effort to increase population. Government records indicated that approximately 12,000 immigrants entered the port of Asunción between 1882 and 1907, of that total, almost 9,000 came from Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. Migrants also arrived from neighboring Spanish American countries, especially Argentina.

The immigrant ethnic groups kept their cultures and languages to some extent, especially Brazilians - known as "Brasiguayos".^[6][7]

Official records gave an imprecise sense of the number of Brazilians who came to the country. According to the 1982 census, 99,000 Brazilians resided in Paraguay. Most^[quantify] analysts discounted this figure, however, and contended that between 300,000 and 350,000 Brazilians lived in the eastern border region.

Analysts also rejected government figures on the number of immigrants from South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The 1982 census reported that there were 2,700 Koreans in Paraguay, along with another 1,100 non-Japanese or non-Korean Asian immigrants. The actual number of Koreans and Chinese, however, was believed^{[by whom?]} to be between 30,000 and 50,000. Virtually all Koreans and Chinese lived in Ciudad del Este or Asunción and played a major role in the importation and sale of electronic goods manufactured in Asia.

Paraguay became the site of radical and progressive colonies inspired by political thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A group of radical socialist Australians in the 1890s voluntarily went to create a failed master-planned community, known as Nueva (New) Australia (1893 -1897); and Elisabeth Nietzsche, a German racial ideologist and sister of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche came to Paraguay in her attempt to build a colony, Nueva Germania (Neues Deutschland) (founded 1886) devoted to a hypothetical pure white "Nordic" society.

Population[]

Demographics of Paraguay, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Paraguay population density (people per km²)

According to the 2019 revision of the World Population Prospects^[8][9] the total population was 6,956,066 in 2018, compared to only 1,473,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 33.5%, 61.4% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 5.1% was 65 years or older .^[10]

Structure of the population[]

Structure of the population per 1 July 2013. Projections are based on the 2002 Population Census.^[11]

Vital statistics[]

Registration of vital events in Paraguay are not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. ^[10]

Births and deaths ^[12]

Total fertility rate[]

^[15] Total Fertility Rate (Wanted Fertility Rate):

Ethnic groups[]

Religions[]

Languages[]

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics[]

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[17]

Median age[]

• male: 35.3 years
• female: 32.8 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate[]

• 1.284% (2011 est.)

Sex ratio[]

• at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.034 male(s)/female
• 15–64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.857 male(s)/female
• total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate[]

0.3% (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS – people living with HIV/AIDS[]

13,000 (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS – deaths[]

<500 (2009 est.)

Literacy[]

• definition: age 15 and over can read and write
• total population: 94%
• male: 94.9%
• female: 93% (2003 est.)

References[]