Manitoba Colony, Bolivia
Ultraconservative Mennonite community / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Manitoba Colony, Mexico or Manitoba, Canada.
Manitoba Colony is an ultraconservative Mennonite community in the Santa Cruz Department or eastern lowlands of Bolivia.[1][2][3] Conservative plain dress Old Colony Mennonites from Mexico and Canada began moving to Bolivia in the 1960s.[4] Manitoba Colony, one of dozens of Mennonite colonies in Bolivia, was founded in 1991 and named after a much larger colony in Mexico, which, in turn, has its origins in the Canadian province of Manitoba.[5] The colony has a population of approximately 2,000. Members of the colony speak Plautdietsch, dress plainly, and do not use electricity or automobiles.[6]