Paraguayan Americans

Paraguayan Americans
	The Embassy of Paraguay to the United States in Washington, D.C.
Total population
	25,022 (2018)
Regions with significant populations
	New York City • Miami-Dade County • Washington, D.C. • Los Angeles
Languages
	American English · Spanish · Guarani
Religion
	Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
	Argentine Americans, Uruguayan Americans.

Paraguayan Americans (Spanish: paraguayo-americano, norteamericano de origen paraguayo or estadounidense de origen paraguayo) are Americans of Paraguayan descent.

The Paraguayan population in the United States at the 2010 Census was 24,933. Paraguayans are the smallest Latino group in the United States. The Paraguayan population is concentrated mainly in Queens, NY, Westchester County, NY, and Somerset County, NJ. Additional areas of concentration include Miami-Dade County and Montgomery County, Maryland. The highest concentration of Paraguayans in the U.S. reside in Somerset County, NJ.^[2]

History

The first Paraguayans emigrated between the years of 1841 and 1850. At that time, Paraguayans were not coming directly to the United States from Paraguay, but through other countries such as Brazil, Argentina, and Peru. The Paraguayan residents in the U.S. were included in the early records in the group of "other" South Americans. During those years, 3,579 "other" immigrants arrived. In 1979, close to 11,000 Paraguayans went to live in the United States, but the numbers declined rapidly. In 1982, 4,000 Paraguayans immigrated to the United States. The reasons of migration were varied, but many immigrants were young people that wanted study in American universities.^[3]

Additionally, some of the immigrants arrived for political persecutions or to escape civil riots. More women than men migrated to the United States, although the numerical difference was not significant, and most of them lacked jobs. In addition, many American marriages adopted Paraguayan infants. More than a thousand Paraguayan infants were adopted in this country. Of these, 254 were adopted in 1989, 405 in 1993 and 351 in 1995.^[3]

Socioeconomics

Paraguayan American women generally work in hotel housekeeping and in the agriculture (in California and Kansas). Paraguay and Kansas founded Partners of the Americas, a non-profit exchange program. This is because of the similarities between the two regions, as they both make a living from raising livestock and growing wheat, both are landlocked, and both are the same size and population.

Most Paraguayan Americans speak Spanish, Guarani (indigenous language of Paraguay) and English very well.^[3]

Demographics

The large populations of Paraguayan Americans are in New York City, Miami, and Los Angeles. Paraguayan Americans also have population importance in Dallas and Atlanta. Many Paraguayan Americans have jobs in the service industry in urban zones such as Minneapolis, Chicago or states like New York and New Jersey.

States and residence areas

The 10 states with the largest population of Paraguayans (Source: 2000 Census):

New York - 5,940
Florida - 2,222
New Jersey - 1,964
California - 1,228
Maryland - 1,161
Virginia - 924
Texas - 763
Pennsylvania - 500
Connecticut - 494
Illinois - 423

The largest population of Paraguayans are situated in the following areas (Source: Census 2000):

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA MSA - 7,492
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA - 1,793
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA - 1,531
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA MSA - 509
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI MSA - 375
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA - 358
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT MSA - 336
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH MSA- 301
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA MSA - 267
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX MSA - 264
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA - 236
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI MSA - 229
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA MSA - 191
Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA - 158
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA - 144
Richmond, VA MSA - 131
Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ MSA - 128
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA - 113
Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA - 109
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA MSA - 108

U.S. communities with largest population of people of Paraguayan ancestry

The top 25 U.S. communities with the highest populations of Paraguayans (Source: Census 2010)

U.S. communities with high percentages of people of Paraguayan ancestry

U.S. communities with the highest percentages of Paraguayans as a percent of total population (Source: Census 2010)

Paraguayans are more than 1% of the entire population in only five communities in the United States. All of these communities are located in Somerset County, NJ.

Notable people

References

^ "B03001 HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN - United States - 2018 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau. July 1, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
^ Olivia Miller, "Paraguayan Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 3, Gale, 2014), pp. 459-466. online
^ ^a ^b ^c Paraguayan Americans. Countries and Their Cultures: Paraguayan Americans by Olivia Miller. Retrieved July 21, 2011, to 13:50 pm.
^ "Miss America: 1985". Miss America. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2014.