To this day, Paraguay remains the only country in the Americas where a majority of the population speaks one indigenous language: Guarani. It is taught in every school. And, in the streets: it is a source of national pride. Paraguay differs significantly even from other multilingual Latin American nations like neighboring Bolivia. In Paraguay, indigenous peoples account for less than 5 percent of the population. Yet Guarani is spoken by an estimated 90 percent of Paraguayans. Unlike Bolivia, which has many official languages, Paraguay has only two. Linguists and historians say the complex reasons for the broad use of the indigenous language here date to the earliest days of Spain's colonization in the sixteenth century. The colonial system that forced indigenous people to work for Europeans did not penetrate big parts of the territory that eventually became Paraguay. This helped sustain Guarani. Under General Alfredo Stroessner, who ruled from 1954 to 1989, Guarani thrived. General Stroessner, the son of a Bavarian immigrant father and Guarani-speaking mother, made it an official language and rewarded rural Guarani speakers with land for their loyalty. Democratic rule was established in the 1990s. Then more steps were taken to strengthen Guarani. But not everyone is optimistic about Guarani's prospects, pointing to factors like the increasing migration of peasants from the rural interior, where Guarani is often the dominant language, to cities, where Spanish holds more sway. Whether Guarani can continue to thrive, even survive, in a more urban society and an increasingly connected world remains to be seen.