Paraguayan American
Encyclopedia
A Paraguayan American is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 of Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

an birth or descent.

The Paraguayan American population in 2008 was an estimated 19,254, per the American Community Survey
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey is an ongoing statistical survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, sent to approximately 250,000 addresses monthly . It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census...

.

History

The first Paraguayans arriving to the United States did it probably between the years 1841 and 1850. At these moment, Paraguayans weren't coming directtly to the United States from Paraguay, but they were coming from others countries such as Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, and Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. The Paraguayan residents in U.S.A. were included in the early records in the group of "other" South Americans. During those years, 3,579 "other" immigrants arrived.
Still, in 1960s, one-fourth of all Paraguayans were registered as living in countries outside Paraguay, in his majority resident in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

. In 1979, close 11,000 Paraguayans immigrated to the United States, but the numbers was declining rapidly. Soon, in 1982, immigrated United States 4,000 Paraguayan only. The reasons of it migration were varied, but many the immigrant were young people that want educational opportunities to can get professional knowledge and skills and to have better jobs. Some of immigrated arrived also for political reasons or to escape civil riots. The women exceeded in number to the male immigrants slightly, and more than half of it immigrants lack of occupation.
Many Paraguayan immigrants were also infants adopted by American families. More of thousand Paraguayan infants were adopted in this country. Of these, 254 were adopted in 1989, 405 in 1993 and 351 in 1995.

Demography

The large populations of Paraguayan Americans are in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Miami, and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. Paraguayan Americans also have population importance in Dallas and Atlanta. Many unskilled Paraguayan Americans have jobs in the service industry in urban zone such as Minneapolis, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 or States as New York and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. Paraguayan American women also generally accept jobs in hotel housekeeping, for example, a job that to other Americans don´t like. Others have got agricultural job in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. The latter state has partnered with Paraguay in an exchange program through a non-profit volunteer organization called Partners of the Americas. Both Kansas and Paraguay are land-locked, grow cattle and wheat, and are roughly the same size and population. Also a small number of Paraguayan American professionals who immigrated in search of better job and pay.
It should be noted that of the 80 Paraguayan Americans who became U.S. citizens in 1984, only one arrived that year. In fact, most of these immigrants arrived eight to ten years earlier. Between 1987 to 1996 year, were increased slightly naturalization figures de Paraguayan in United States. In 1996, 420 Paraguayans became American citizens. In 1990, 5,144 Paraguayan Americans speak Spanish or Guarani
Guaraní language
Guaraní, specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guaraní , is an indigenous language of South America that belongs to the Tupí–Guaraní subfamily of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of Paraguay , where it is spoken by the majority of the population, and half of...

(indigenous language of Paraguay), and 2,903 Paraguayan Americans do not speak English very well. They have grown in the Hispanic ethnic group in United States.

Education

In accordance with the 1990 U.S. Census, of 4,132 Paraguayan American adults 25 years old and older, 997 were high school graduates, 700 attended school through 12th grade, althought have no diploma, 429 have a bachelor's degree, and 653 have had some college experience. Of the 5,415 Paraguayan Americans in the U.S. population, 1,830 only are enrolled in school.

External links

  • http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1841.htm Paraguay - U.S. Department of State
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