Paraguay Emigration and Immigration

Online Sources

 * 1544-1880 Catálogo de nombres y materias : fichero general, 1544-1880 Personal name and subject index to documents, deceased assets, military and emigration records, royal orders, royal certificates and other public documents housed in the Argentine National Archives. Most of the references are from the 18th-19th centuries and belong to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, the current countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
 * 1870-1940 Auswandererkartei der Rußlanddeutschen nach Paraguay und Uruguay, 1870-1940 Index cards, arranged alphabetically by surname, for German-speaking emigrants from Russia to Paraguay and Uruguay. Includes information on places and dates of birth and death for both spouses and children, ancestral home, state of allegiance, religion, occupation, date of emigration, place of settlement, place and date of marriage, maiden name of wife, names of children, and documentary sources.
 * 1929-1930 Auswandererkartei der Rußlanddeutschen, 1929-1930 Index cards, arranged alphabetically by surname, for German-speaking emigrants from Russia to Germany, Canada, Brazil, Paraguay, etc.

Finding the Town of Origin in Paraguay
If you are using emigration/immigration records to find the name of your ancestors' town in Paraguay, see Paraguay Finding Town of Origin for additional research strategies.

Paraguay Emigration and Immigration
"Emigration" means moving out of a country. "Immigration" means moving into a country. Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the country. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. Sometimes they also show family groups.

Immigration to Paraguay

 * For most of its history, Paraguay has been a recipient of immigrants, owing to its low population density, especially after the demographic collapse caused by the Paraguayan War.
 * Immigrants include Italians, Germans, Russians, Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, Lebanese, Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, Brazilians, and Argentines.
 * Paraguay has one of the most prominent German communities in South America, with some 25,000 German-speaking Mennonites living in the Paraguayan Chaco. German settlers founded several towns, such as Hohenau, Filadelfia, Neuland, Obligado and Nueva Germania. Several websites that promote German immigration to Paraguay claim that 5–7% of the population is of German ancestry, including 150,000 people of German-Brazilian descent.
 * Paraguay has also been a haven for communities persecuted for the religious faith, like the Bruderhof who were forced to leave England in 1941 because of their pacifist beliefs.
 * Many of these communities have retained their languages and culture, particularly the Brazilians, who represent the largest and most prominent immigrant group, at around 400,000.
 * Many Brazilian Paraguayans are of German, Italian and Polish descent.
 * There are an estimated 63,000 Afro-Paraguayans, comprising 1% of the population.

Afro-Paraguayans

 * The first African slaves arrived at Paraguay in 1556. The majority of the slaves were of Nigerian and Angolan origin, similar to other black slaves arriving in South America from the slave trade.
 * According to Argentine historian José Ignacio Telesca, the slaves that entered legally came from the slave ports of Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Córdoba, while those that entered illegally came from Brazil.
 * According to the Telesca, more than 4% of the population were slaves in colonial times, keeping the same percentage in the 19th century after independence. However, according to the Kamba Cuá "Afro-Paraguayan Association", in 1782, the black population represented 11.2 percent of the total population of the then Province of Paraguay. By 1811 half of the Paraguayan population was of African descent, whether slave or free.

Brazilians in Paraguay (Brasiguayos)

 * Brasiguaio (Portuguese) or brasiguayo (Spanish) is a term referring to Brazilian migrants in Paraguay and their descendants. The word Brasiguaio has been used by members within and outside this group to categorize individuals whose lives are connected with both Brazil and Paraguay, and more specifically to refer to Brazilians who live or have lived in Paraguay.
 * The origins of Brasiguayos are from the three states of the South Region of Brazil, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul. Most Brasiguayos are mainly ethnically White of German, Italian, and Polish descent.
 * They typically live in the Southeastern Paraguayan departments of Canindeyú and Alto Paraná, which border with Brazil. Most emigrated from Brazil by the 1960s. In total they make up 455,000 Brasiguaios as of 2001, or about one-tenth of Paraguay's population.
 * In some border zones, Brasiguayos and their descendants are more than 90% of the population, where Portuguese is still spoken as the mother tongue. In San Alberto de Mbaracayú city, approximately 80% of its 23,000 inhabitants are of Brazilian ancestry.

German Paraguayans

 * 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, 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.
 * Also, there is a large minority of German descendants living in the department of Itapúa, mainly in the Departmental Capital, Encarnación and the German town of Hohenau. Most of the Germans who settle in this region came from the larger German colonies from neighboring Brazil and Argentina.
 * Another large group of Germans who immigrated to Paraguay are Russian Mennonites, Germans who immigrated to Russia under the rule of the ethnic German Czarina Catherine the Great. The Paraguayan Mennonite community left Russia in two waves: the first in the 19th century when their exemption from military service ended, and the second to avoid Stalin's collectivization programs.
 * The move to Paraguay was difficult for the Russian Mennonites, because they were new to the climate. Some Russian Mennonites left Paraguay for neighboring Argentina.
 * The Russian Mennonites settled in the Boquerón Department in Paraguay. They established the Fernheim Colony, which includes the town of Filadelfia; Neuland Colony; and Menno Colony. The descendants of the Russian Mennonite immigrants continue to live these colonies.

For Further Reading
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