Culture of Paraguay

Paraguay's cultural heritage can be traced to the extensive intermarriage between the original male Spanish settlers and indigenous Guaraní women.

A characteristic of this cultural fusion is the extensive bilingualism present to this day: more than 80% of Paraguayans speak both Spanish and the indigenous language, Guaraní.

[citation needed] This cultural fusion is expressed in arts such as embroidery (ao po'í) and lace making (ñandutí).

Several popular dishes contain manioc, a local staple crop similar to the yuca also known as Cassava root found in the Southwestern United States and Mexico, as well as other indigenous ingredients.

The 1950s and 1960s were the time of the birth of a new generation of Paraguayan novelists and poets such as José Ricardo Mazó, Roque Vallejos, and Nobel Prize nominee Augusto Roa Bastos.

In lower classes, godparents have a special relationship to the family, since usually, they are chosen because of their favorable social position, in order to provide extra security for the children.

[1] Paraguay was in its maximum extension the old Paraguayan Province, a Jesuit administration belonging to the Viceroyalty of Peru and whose clerical capital was the city of Córdoba.

The Jesuits were expelled in 1768, reason why the towns entered decay and their settlers were in need of migrating to other areas of Paraguay, Misiones and Corrientes.