Independencia (formerly known as Colonia Independencia) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

in Guairá department of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. The first known inhabitants of the area were indigenous peoples of tribes Mbya and Guayaki. The area was originally known as ''Muvevo'', which is the name the natives gave to a plant they used to smoke using pipes. Upon the arrival of paraguayan nationals and other setllers it got the name of ''Kuruzupe'' (in

jopara Jopara () or Yopará () is a colloquial form of Guarani spoken in Paraguay which uses a number of Spanish loan words. Its name is from the Guarani word for “mixture”. The majority of Paraguayans, particularly younger ones, speak some form o ...

flat cross), due to a coffin shaped like a cross brought by a German family. Later it was called ''Campo Melgarejo'' (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Fields of Melgarejo) after Conrado Melgarejo, an entrepreneur from Villarrica. It was established on January 17, 1920 as a hamlet belonging to the town of Mbocayaty with the name of ''Colonia Independencia Nacional'' (

for National Independence Colony) The establishment was organized by public servant Genaro Romero from the city of Concepcion. Romero was also a journalist and an advocate for the rights of Paraguayan agricultural workers. On June 23, 1955 the colony was upgraded to an self-governing municipality and its original area included that of the neighboring town of

Paso Yobai Paso Yobai is the easternmost district of the Guairá Department, Paraguay. It was founded in 1923 by a Swiss (Geneva) settler George Naville (1877-1943) as an agricultural colony. The first permanent resident was a man named Jose Dolores Resqui ...

. The town is a tourist attraction because of its

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

heritage, specially in the month of

October October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôctō'' meaning "eight") after Januar ...

for its big

Oktoberfest Oktoberfest (; ) is the world's largest , featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival, and is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, from mid- or late-September to the first Sunday in October. The annual event attracts more than seven milli ...

celebration and the natural sites surrounding the hills of Ybytyruzu. Colonia Independencia received immigrants during the beginning of the XXth century especially after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

from the

states of Baden-Wurttenberg and

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

but also to a lesser extent other German-speakers from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Roads

The town is connected by PY10 to the national routes system.

References

Sources

World Gazeteer: Paraguay
– World-Gazetteer.com {{Authority control German diaspora in Paraguay Populated places in the Guairá Department