Paraguay suffered a lot at the hands of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina! (best, speak)
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I think Paraguay is the only country in this hemisphere (or anywhere, when you think about it) that most of the population is not just bilingual, but one of the languages is of indigenous origins.
I think Paraguay is the only country in this hemisphere (or anywhere, when you think about it) that most of the population is not just bilingual, but one of the languages is of indigenous origins.
I think "this hemisphere" was the right cut-off, because very many countries in the Old World have populations where the only or one of the primary language is of indigenous origins. The only other example in the New World is Greenland if you include it as a country (debatable though it is technically counted as a country by a lot of measures).
I think "this hemisphere" was the right cut-off, because very many countries in the Old World have populations where the only or one of the primary language is of indigenous origins. The only other example in the New World is Greenland if you include it as a country (debatable though it is technically counted as a country by a lot of measures).
I read somewhere that Paraguay is unique in that not only is it bilingual but the indigenous language is the dominant language. I agree with you about the British Empire. Certainly no saints but in recent decades the Falklands/Malvinas controversy has been used to take people's minds off economic problems.
I read somewhere that Paraguay is unique in that not only is it bilingual but the indigenous language is the dominant language. I agree with you about the British Empire. Certainly no saints but in recent decades the Falklands/Malvinas controversy has been used to take people's minds off economic problems.
Yes, it's unique for "this hemisphere" as in the New World. We have to take in what the word "indigenous" actually means. Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, etc. are all indigenous languages indigenous to India and still spoken there. Spanish, Basque, Catalan, Galician, etc. are indigenous to Spain and Spanish overall is the indigenous dominant language. The various dialects and standards of Chinese are indigenous to China and Mandarin is the dominant and indigenous language there. The usage of indigenous to refer to just New World pre-Columbian peoples and cultures is incorrect. Also, where's the love for Greenland?
Yes, it's unique for "this hemisphere" as in the New World. We have to take in what the word "indigenous" actually means. Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, etc. are all indigenous languages indigenous to India and still spoken there. Spanish, Basque, Catalan, Galician, etc. are indigenous to Spain and Spanish overall is the indigenous dominant language. The various dialects and standards of Chinese are indigenous to China and Mandarin is the dominant and indigenous language there. The usage of indigenous to refer to just New World pre-Columbian peoples and cultures is incorrect. Also, where's the love for Greenland?
I think the uniqueness is attributed to being almost entirely mestizo, as opposed to the ethnic minorities you mentioned, and yet the indigenous language became the dominant language. In neighboring Bolivia the various indigenous groups retained their language, but the significant mestizo minority is primarily Spanish speaking. In most former Spanish colonies the indigena are on the lowest economic rungs, and are often discriminated against. Speaking Spanish amongst mestizos denotes higher status. Not so in Paraguay. I'm not really a fan of the country, too hot for me. Just interesting how these things developed.
I think Paraguay is the only country in this hemisphere (or anywhere, when you think about it) that most of the population is not just bilingual, but one of the languages is of indigenous origins.
Not exactly true. Iceland, Finland, Japan, and Botswana all use native languages as their first language. Really a lot of Asian countries and a few African countries do. Then you add in some places (like Iceland) where there were no humans until the current inhabitants sailed there, and you get some more.
I read the article. The War of the Triple Alliance is really quite horrific. It is extremely rare for warfare alone to depopulate a land like that. You usually need a significant ethnic cleansing component, and even then you usually have a large enough minority that there'll be people left after the ethnic cleansing. It happened in parts of the Holy Roman Empire during the 30 Years War, but other than that I can't think of any other example.
On the other hand while the war certainly set Paraquay back in ways it never recovered from it doesn't seem likely to me it would have been a great power or even a relevant regional power in the long run. Argentina had the makings of a great power in the early 20th century, but it failed to eliminate Uruguay and never really broke Brasil or Chile so that never came to pass. Brazil might be one in another 20-30 years, but you could look at much of Brasil's history since indepence and say the same thing. If the two most likely countries to be Great Powers in South American have yet to really fulfill that potential I just can't imagine Paraguay doing it even without the War of the Triple Alliance.
Yes, it's unique for "this hemisphere" as in the New World. We have to take in what the word "indigenous" actually means. Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, etc. are all indigenous languages indigenous to India and still spoken there. Spanish, Basque, Catalan, Galician, etc. are indigenous to Spain and Spanish overall is the indigenous dominant language. The various dialects and standards of Chinese are indigenous to China and Mandarin is the dominant and indigenous language there. The usage of indigenous to refer to just New World pre-Columbian peoples and cultures is incorrect. Also, where's the love for Greenland?
I'd hesitate to include the languages of Spain. The Romance ones were brought by the Romans, and the Celtic ones belong to distinct minorities.
Even in Italy it'd be a stretch to say the people speak the original indigenous language other than in the immediate vicinity of Rome.
Just nitpicking. Other than Iceland none of my examples are bulletproof either.
When I said indigenous, I was referring to native to the Americas. I'm perfectly aware that there are many other countries that speak languages native to their area.
I was trying to be PC by calling them indigenous rather than indians (I thought of native Americans, but this term is usually reserved for indigenous of the USA.) All of that trying to avoid confusion, but in the end one type of confusion was exchanged for another. SMH
and was promptly rebutted by President Dilma Rousseff, because foreign magazines no longer "make" or "unmake" ministers in Brazil...
I'm amazed that Brazil's President is a former terrorist and bank robber (Miss Rousseff). I've heard that she is a "moderate" Socialist now, but still...
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