Paraguayan Argentines ( es, paraguayos-argentinos; gn, Paraguaiguakuéra Arahentínape) are Argentine citizens of full or partial Paraguayan descent or

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

-born people who reside in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Paraguayan people comprise an important ethnic group in the country due to the sustained immigration that gained importance in the 1970s. The number of people born in Paraguay living in Argentina has been estimated in around 325,000. Therefore, it is the largest foreign community in the country outnumbering individuals from Italy and Spain (countries which have been historically regarded as the origin of the backbone of Argentine society). It is also one of the fastest growing foreign nationalities. Despite all this, its numbers have been undercounted so it is believed that the real amount is even much higher.

History

The North-Eastern provinces of Argentina were originally inhabited by Guarani tribes conforming with what is now Paraguay and several regions of Brazil the area of influence of Guarani culture. This influence can be seen nowadays in many common cultural features. However, the earliest presence of Paraguayans as an ethnic group can be traced back much later, to the second foundation (and the real permanent settlement) of the city of Buenos Aires by

Juan de Garay Juan de Garay (1528–1583) was a Spanish conquistador. Garay's birthplace is disputed. Some say it was in the city of Junta de Villalba de Losa in Castile, while others argue he was born in the area of Orduña (Basque Country). There's ...

who sailed down Parana River from Asuncion accompanied by local

Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...

and Guarani families. In addition, there have always been certain connections between the two countries during later periods of the Spanish rule, especially when the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata was created in 1776 which included several Intendencias, among them the Intendencia of Paraguay and Intendencia of Buenos Aires. There has been Paraguayan presence in Argentine soil during and after the

Paraguayan War The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Treaty of the Triple Alliance, Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, an ...

and after the Revolution of 1947 in Paraguay but it did not acquire importance before 1970. For many economic reasons (Paraguay being an impoverished country) and political reasons ( Stroessner dictatorship), Paraguayans started to settle in larger amounts throughout the wealthier neighbouring territory. Another fact was the porosity of Argentine borders and that the population density has always been disproportionally higher in the Eastern region (Argentine-Brazilian border) rather than the Western region or Chaco (Bolivian border). Very different from other immigrant communities in Argentina (European and Middle-Eastern), Paraguayan entrance has been large (with insignificant return rate) and constant even to these days which makes up to 40 years of sustained immigration that does not seem to stop or decline in the future.

Distribution

According to the , the distribution of Paraguayan-born residents in Argentina is not evenly spread throughout Argentina's territory:

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...

and the

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of t ...

are the top destinations for Paraguayans. In addition, due to geographical proximity facilitating movement and cultural exchange, 40% of the Paraguayan-born community is settled in provinces of the Northeastern region of Argentina, namely

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It ha ...

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...

, Santa Fe, Córdoba and Chaco, which are near the Argentina–Paraguay border. The 10% left is spread throughout the rest of the provinces.

Traditions

Some cultural elements shared by Argentina and Paraguay include the consumption of

Yerba Mate Yerba mate or yerba-maté (''Ilex paraguariensis''; from Spanish ; pt, erva-mate, or ; gn, ka'a, ) is a plant species of the holly genus ''Ilex'' native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The leav ...

(''Ilex paraguayensis'') in the form of

mate Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Person or title * Friendship ...

, a traditional infused drink with hot water claimed by Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay as the national drink, as well as

Tereré (of Guaraní origin) is an infusion of (botanical name ''Ilex paraguariensis'') prepared with cold water, a lot of ice and pohá ñaná (medicinal herbs), and in a slightly larger vessel. This infusion has its roots in Pre-Columbian America, ...

, a traditional infused drink with cold water and Mate cocido, a traditional infused drink with hot water, both originally from Paraguay; Chamame, folk music genre with its origins in Guarani Jesuit Missions mixed with European styles, and the use of the

Guaraní Language Guaraní (), specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guarani ( "the people's language"), is a South American language that belongs to the Tupi–Guarani family of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of ...

, which is the official language of Paraguay and second official language of the Argentine

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; gn, Taragui), officially the Province of Corrientes ( es, Provincia de Corrientes; gn, Taragüí Tetãmini) is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (fr ...

since 24 September 2004.

Guarani placenames in Argentina

Corrientes

Ituzaingó Curuzú Cuatiá Caá Catí Cerro Corá Mburucuyá ("Passion flower" the National flower of Paraguay) Mocoretá Tabay ("small town") Tapebicua Tatacuá ("the hole of the fire") Taragui Yahapé Yataytí Calle Yapeyú Itatí Itá Ibaté ("tall stone") Guaviraví Vaca Cuá Ita Corá Aguay

Misiones

Oberá ("shiny") Caa Yarí Capiobí Caraguatay Garuhapé Garuhapé-Mi Garupá Guaraní Itacaruaré Mbopicuá ("hole of the bat") Panambí ("butterfly") Pindapoy Piray Kilómetro 18 Puerto Iguazú (Iguazú meaning "large water") Puerto Piray (Piray meaning "small fish") Tarumá Tacuaruzú Cuña-Pirú

Chaco

Samuhú ("Chorisia" a kind of subtropical tree) Colonia Tacuarí El Paranacito

Salta

Aguaray Yariguarenda Yacuy El Aguay Acambuco Itangua Tobantirenda Capiazuti

Santa Fe

Tacuarendí ("sugarcane fields") El Arazá Caraguatay Aguará Grande Ñanducita ("small spider") Tacural ("anthills") Vera ("shiny") Carcarañá ("mean caracara")

Santiago del Estero

Añatuya Caburé Urutaú

Tucumán

'' Tukumã'' Tapia ("wall") El Timbo

Formosa

Pirané ("smelly fish") Ibarreta Yatai Tatané

Entre Ríos

Gualeguay Paraná Mandisoví Villaguay Ubajay Gualeguaychú Chajarí Ñancay Ibicuy

Buenos Aires Province

Pehuajó, Reta "''retã"'' ("country or nation"), Mar de Ajó, Mar del Tuyú, San Bernardo del Tuyú, Ituzaingó ("waterfall")

Rivers

Paraná Paraguay ("colorful water") Uruguay ("water of the

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...

") Carapari Gualeguay Gualeguaychú Guayquiraró Rivers of the

Paraná Delta The Paraná Delta ( es, Delta del Paraná) is the delta of the Paraná River in Argentina and it consists of several islands known as the Islas del Paraná. The Paraná flows north–south and becomes an alluvial basin (a flood plain) between ...

Ibicuy

Notable Paraguayan Argentines

Politicians

* Aníbal Ibarra (born 1958), former

mayor of Buenos Aires This is a list of mayors and chiefs of government of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital, since its federalization. Its first Mayor ( es, Intendente, Intendant) was Torcuato de Alvear, who was appointed by President Julio Argentino Roc ...

* Vilma Ibarra (born 1960), former congresswoman

Arts and culture

* Arnaldo André (born 1943), actor * Julio Bazan (born 1946), journalist * Gabriel Casaccia (1907–1980), novelist *

Florencia de la V Florencia Trinidad (born 2 March 1975), better known by her stage name Flor de la V, is an Argentine actress, television personality, comedian and vedette. As producer Gerardo Sofovich's protégée, who discovered her in a 1998 revue in Buenos ...

(born 1975), television presenter and vedette * Mariana Enríquez (born 1973), novelist and short story writer * Eloy Fariña Núñez (1885–1929), writer * Pablo Lescano (born 1977),

cumbia villera Cumbia villera ( or ) (roughly translated as "slum cumbia", "ghetto cumbia", or " shantytown cumbia") is a subgenre of cumbia music originating in Argentina in the late 1990s and popularized all over Latin America and Latin communities abroad. ...

musician * Ángel Menchaca (1855–1924), music theorist and composer * Nelly Prono (1926–1997), actress

Sportspeople

* Roberto Acuña (born 1972), footballer *

Lucas Barrios Lucas Ramón Barrios Cáceres (; born 13 November 1984) is an Argentine-born Paraguayan former footballer. Barrios was known for his effectiveness in the target area. This earned him his nickname ''La Pantera'', which means ''The Panther''. Eve ...

(born 1984), footballer * Raúl Bobadilla (born 1987), footballer * Juan José Cáceres (born 2000), footballer * Marcelo Cañete (born 1990), footballer * Darío Espínola (born 1973), footballer * Luis Fariña (born 1991), footballer * Nicole Hain (born 2000), futsal player * Juan Iturbe (born 1993), footballer * Hilario Navarro (born 1980), footballer *

Leandro Paredes Leandro Daniel Paredes (; born 29 June 1994) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Juventus, on loan from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, and the Argentina national team. He was part of the خط ...

(born 1994), footballer and 2022 World Cup champion for Argentina * Jonathan Santana (born 1981), footballer

References

External links

{{Immigration to Argentina Immigration to Argentina Ethnic groups in Argentina