Paraguayans
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Paraguayans
the basic population of Paraguay, constituting approximately 99 percent of all inhabitants. Paraguayans number approximately 2.6 million (1973, estimate). The Paraguayan people as a distinct ethnic entity developed primarily in the 17th and 18th centuries as a result of the intermixing of Guarani Indians and descendants of the Spanish conquerors. In an anthropological sense, Paraguayans are primarily mestizos. More than half are bilingual, speaking both Spanish and Guarani; a small number speak only Spanish, and the rest only Guarani. Paraguayans are Catholics by religion.
REFERENCES
Narody Ameriki, vol. 2. Moscow, 1959.Natsii Latinskoi Ameriki. Moscow, 1964.
Nitoburg, E. L. Paragvai. Moscow, 1964.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.