Languages
Native
Spanish
68%
Guaraní
45%
Language Samples
Mba'éichapa reiko?
Hello, how are you?
Iporã, aguyje.
I am very well, thanks.
Peteĩ, mokõi, mbohapy, irundy, po, poteĩ, pokõi, poapy, porundy, pa.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Linguistic History
Paraguay is unique in Latin America: it is the only country where a pre-Columbian language — Guaraní — is genuinely spoken by the majority of the population regardless of ethnicity. When Spanish missionaries arrived in the 16th century, they learned Guaraní to evangelise, inadvertently preserving and spreading it. Today over 80% of Paraguayans understand Guaraní and it co-exists with Spanish in everyday life, government, and media. Many Paraguayans switch fluidly between the two, a phenomenon called Jopara.
Similar Languages
Spanish (Argentina)
96%
Spanish (Bolivia)
95%
Portuguese
89%
Italian
81%
Media
The Palacio de los López in Asunción — seat of a bilingual nation
Photo: Fotografía tomada por "globevisions" usuario de Flickr. · CC BY 2.0
Did You Know
01
Paraguay is the only country in the Americas where an Indigenous language (Guaraní) is spoken by the majority of people of all ethnicities, not just Indigenous communities.
02
The mixed Spanish–Guaraní everyday speech called Jopara ('mixture') is so common that it is considered the true vernacular of most Paraguayans.
03
Guaraní words have entered global vocabulary: 'jaguar', 'tapir', 'toucan', and 'piranha' all come from Guaraní.