The Constitution of Paraguay of 1992 declares it as a multicultural and bilingual country, establishing Spanish and Guaraní as official languages.

[2][3] According to Instituto Cervantes' 2020 report "El Español: Una lengua viva", 68.2% of the Paraguayan population (4,946,322 inhabitants) has decent mastery of the Spanish language.

The most distinct characteristic of Paraguayan culture is the persistence of Spanish alongside Guaraní, these being the official languages of the nation.

According to data in the National Census of Population and Housing of the year 2012, carried out by the Dirección General de Estadísticas, Encuestas y Censos (today Instituto Nacional de Estadística), the most spoken languages in Paraguayan homes are: 46.3% Spanish and Guaraní (or Jopara), 34% only Guaraní, and 15.3% only Spanish; the rest speak other languages.

Guaraní is the only indigenous language of the Americas whose speakers include a large proportion of non-indigenous people.

Upon arrival of Conquistadors in Paraguay, Castilian Spanish was introduced, but they never really created nor maintained a relevant community of speakers in the area.

In addition, mixed-race couples were encouraged by authorities in the colonial era, which was different from other countries at that time.

They were concentrated largely in the capital or in privileged classes toward the middle of the country where they had access to education.

This was largely due to the improvement of public education, the effects of urbanization, and access to new technology and modes of communication (like the television, the telephone, and the internet).

The use and comprehension of Spanish increased in the last fifty years, surpassing 50% of speakers (first and second language) during the mid-20th Century and reaching numbers up to 90% in the present day.

Among bilingual people in the country, there is a preference to use Guarani in intimate, personal, and familiar situations.

Some associate Spanish with more privileged classes, but the reality is that it is correlated only if the speaker speaks both languages.

The expansion of public education, as well as the effects of urbanization, the globalization of technology and mass media such as the Internet, cell phones, television, etc., in recent years, served to expand the Spanish language in the interior of the country, mostly Guarani-speaking.

The use and understanding of Spanish has increased in the last thirty years, going from an average of 50% of speakers (as a first or second language) during the 20th century, to numbers close to 90% for the present.

[10][11][12] Spanish is the majority language in the most populated urban centers, and is the primary or mother tongue of those born in cities.

[13] Paraguayan Spanish has three main variants depending on the speaker and geographical area: the urban or Rioplatense variant (spoken mainly by the younger generation in Asunción and other large cities), with greater influence of Rioplatense Spanish.

On the other hand, just over 2 million Paraguayans (about 30% of the country's total) continue to use Guaraní as their first language; and they speak little Spanish, although most of them understand it quite well.

Currently, most Paraguayans have Guaraní as their mother tongue and use it frequently in their immediate environment or in its Yopará version (mixed with Spanish).