Paraguay Ethnic groups : Paraguay  

Paraguay Ethnic groups - Travel guide

Paraguay

Ethnic groups of Paraguay

According to estimates reported in 1998, some 95% of the population is mestizo, principally a mixture of Spanish and Guaraní Amerindian. The others are pure Amerindian (1–3%), black, or of European or Asian immigrant stock. However, another estimate puts mestizos at 76% and Europeans at 20%. During the late 1950s, Japanese settlement began in the region between Encarnación and Caazapá. Korean settlement began in 1966.

The Guaraní Amerindians, belonging to the Tupi-Guaraní linguistic group, had spread throughout a large area of South America east of the Andes before the Spaniards arrived. Within Paraguay, extensive intermarriage between the races resulted in almost complete assimilation.