Germans in Paraguay

German-Paraguayan
Total population
	450,000
Regions with significant populations
	Asunción and Boquerón Department.
Languages
	Paraguayan Spanish, German
Religion
	Christianity (mostly Roman Catholic and Protestantism), Judaism
Related ethnic groups
	German, German-Chileans, German-Argentinians, German-Brazilian

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The German minority in Paraguay came into existence with immigration during the industrial age.

Notable Paraguayan Germans include the former president of Paraguay Alfredo Stroessner. Paraguay and South America in general was a popular place for German leaders accused of war crimes to retreat after the second World War.

The "Nueva Germania" colony was founded in Paraguay in 1888; though regarded as a failure, it still exists despite being abandoned by many of its founders in the 1890s.

[edit] Russian Mennonites

Another big 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. Russian Mennonites are different from another German-Russian group, the Volga Germans, through religion and reasons of immigrating to Russia. Russian Mennonites are religious Mennonites while the Volga Germans are religious Lutherans and Roman Catholics. Russian Mennonites went to Russia for freedom of worship, while the Volga Germans went for economic reasons and land.

The situation for Germans changed when the Communists came to power. Germans were persecuted by the new Soviet Government. Some Russian Mennonites saw Paraguay as a perfect place to settle because it looked isolated. The government of Paraguay wanted settlement in the Chaco region, which was under dispute with its southern neighbor, Argentina, and its western neighbor, Bolivia. 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, where they met many Volga Germans, who decided to settle in Argentina to escape the persecution in Russia. The situation changed and the Russian Mennonites began to prosper in Paraguay.

The Russian Mennonites settled in the Boquerón Department in Paraguay. They established the Fernheim Colony, Neuland Colony, and the town of Filadelfia. The descendants of the Russian Mennonite immigrants continue to live these colonies.