Neuland Colony is a Mennonite settlement in Paraguay. After thousands of Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonites fled the Soviet Union during the Great Trek of World War II, many were left displaced by the war. In response to this need, land in Boquerón Department was purchased by the Mennonite Central Committee in 1947 and settled by these same Mennonite refugees from Europe. As of 2008 the colony had about 3,400 residents.
Main street, Neuland
Mennonites in Paraguay are either Plautdietsch-speakers of mostly Flemish, Frisian and Prussian ancestry or, like the majority of Paraguayans, of mixed or Amerindian ancestry. Ethnic Mennonites contribute heavily to the agricultural and dairy output of Paraguay.
Mennonite children in San Juan Bautista
The appearance of the first houses built by the Mennonites.
Colony of Filadelfia, 1949.
Mennonite school children In Paraguay, 1949.