CAPITAL: Asunción.

FLAG: The national flag, officially adopted in 1842, is a tricolor of red, white, and blue horizontal stripes. The national coat of arms appears in the center of the white stripe on the obverse, and the Treasury seal in the same position on the reverse.

ANTHEM: Himno Nacional, beginning "Paraguayos, república o muerte" ("Paraguayans, republic or death").

MONETARY UNIT: The guaraní ( g) is a paper currency of 100 céntimos. There are notes of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 guaraníes. g1 = $0.00047 (or $1 = g2,110.0).

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; San Blas Day, 3 February; National Defense Day, 1 March; Labor Day, 1 May; Independence Days, 14-15 May; Peace Day, 12 June; Founding of Asunción, 15 August; Constitution Day, 25 August; Victory Day (Battle of Boquerón), 29 September; Columbus Day, 12 October; All Saints' Day, 1 November; Our Lady of Caacupé, 8 December; Christmas, 25 December. Movable religious holidays are Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Corpus Christi.

Source Database: Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations
Table of Contents
AGRICULTURE | ARMED FORCES | CLIMATE | DOMESTICATED ANIMALS | ECONOMY | EDUCATION | ENERGY AND POWER | ENVIRONMENT | ETHNIC GROUPS | FAMOUS PARAGUAYANS | FISHING | FORESTRY | FURTHER READINGS | GOVERNMENT | HEALTH | HISTORY | HOUSING | INCOME | INDUSTRY | JUDICIAL SYSTEM | LABOR | LANGUAGES | LOCATION AND SIZE | MEDIA | MIGRATION | MINING | PLANTS AND ANIMALS | POLITICAL PARTIES | POPULATION | RELIGIONS | SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT | SOURCE CITATION | TOPOGRAPHY | TOURISM AND RECREATION | TRANSPORTATION | VIEW MULTIMEDIA FILE(S)

LOCATION AND SIZE

One of South America's two landlocked countries, Paraguay has a total area of 406,750 square kilometers (157,047 square miles), slightly smaller than the state of California. It has a total boundary length of 3,920 kilometers (2,436 miles). Paraguay's capital city, Asunción, is located in the southwestern part of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY

The eastern part of Paraguay contains luxuriant hills, meadows, and forests. The western three-fifths constitute a dry, sparsely populated prairie known as the Chaco Boreal. The Paraguay River, the nation's most important waterway, divides the two sections. The Pilcomayo River flows southeast, forming the southwestern border between Argentina and Paraguay.

GEOGRAPHIC PROFILE

Arable land: Land used for temporary crops, like meadows for mowing or pasture, gardens, and greenhouses. Permanent crops: Land cultivated with crops that occupy its use for long periods, such as cocoa, coffee, rubber, fruit and nut orchards, and vineyards. Permanent pastures: Land used permanently for forage crops. Forests: Land containing stands of trees. Other: Any land not specified, including built-on areas, roads, and barren land.

The measurements for precipitation and average temperature were taken at weather stations closest to the country's largest city. Precipitation and average temperature can vary significantly within a country, due to factors such as latitude, altitude, coastal proximity, and wind patterns.

CLIMATE

Two-thirds of Paraguay is within the temperate zone, one-third in the tropical zone. Temperatures generally range from 10° to 21°c (50° to 70°f) in autumn and winter, and 26° to 37°c (79° to 99°f) in spring and summer. Rainfall averages about 200 centimeters (80 inches) a year along the eastern frontier with Brazil, gradually diminishing toward the west to an average of 81 centimeters (32 inches) in the Chaco Boreal.

PLANTS AND ANIMALS

The eastern forests abound in hardwoods, including native varieties such as urunday, cedron, curupay, and lapacho. Medicinal herbs, shrubs, and trees abound, as well as some dyewoods (wood used to make dye). Yerba maté, a holly popularly used in tea, grows wild in the northeast.

Animals found in Paraguay include the jaguar, wild boar, capybara, deer, armadillo, anteater, fox, brown wolf, carpincho, and tapir. Crocodiles abound, and the boa constrictor thrives in the west. The carnivorous piranha fish is common.

ENVIRONMENT

Paraguay's forests are threatened by the expansion of agriculture. Water pollution from industrial pollutants and sewage is also a problem: 49% of the city dwellers and 91% of the rural population do not have pure water. The nation's cities produce 0.4 million tons of solid waste per year. Some of Paraguay's cities have no facilities for waste collection. As of 1994, 5 mammal species, 34 bird species, and 15 plant species were endangered.

HISTORY

The original inhabitants of present-day Paraguay were Guaraní Amerindians. The first European known to have explored Paraguay was the Italian, Sebastian Cabot, sailing from 1526 to 1530 in the service of Spain. The first permanent Spanish settlement, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (present-day Asunción), was founded in 1537.

The next two centuries were dominated by Jesuit missionaries, who organized Guaraní families in mission villages (reducciones) designed as self-sufficient communes. Amerindians were taught trades, improved methods of cultivation, the fine arts, as well as religion. Above all, they were protected from the Spanish colonists, who sought to exploit them.

As the settlements prospered and grew in number to around 30 (with over 100,000 Amerindians), the jealousy of the Spanish colonists sparked a campaign to discredit the Jesuits. Eventually, the King of Spain was turned against them, and in 1767 he expelled the Jesuits from the New World. Once they had left, the reducciones disappeared.

In achieving independence, Paraguay first had to fight the forces of Argentina. Paraguay declared independence from Spain in 1810 but rejected the leadership of Buenos Aires. An Argentine expedition was decisively defeated, and Paraguay deposed the last of its royal governors in 1811.

EL SUPREMO

Since then, Paraguay has been dominated by dictatorships or near-dictatorships. The first and most famous of the dictators was José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia (known as El Supremo). Francia isolated Paraguay from the outside world and suppressed all criticism at home. At the same time, however, he was honestly devoted to his country's welfare. Francia governed until his death in 1840. Today, he is regarded as Paraguay's "founding father."

A later dictator, Francisco Solano López, provoked quarrels with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, which allied and attacked Paraguay. The War of the Triple Alliance (1865-70) was the bloodiest in Latin American history. The war was a disaster for Paraguay, which lost two-thirds of all its adult males, including López himself. Paraguay's population fell from about 600,000 to about 250,000. The war also cost Paraguay 55,000 square miles of territory, its economic well-being, and its pride.

For the next 50 years, Paraguay stagnated economically. The male population was replaced by an influx of immigrants from Italy, Spain, Germany, and Argentina. Politically, there was a succession of leaders, alternating between rival parties. Then, a long-smoldering feud with Bolivia broke into open warfare (1932-35) after oil was discovered in the Chaco Boreal, the country's desolate western region. Although outnumbered three to one, the Paraguayans, intent on avenging the defeat of 1870, conquered three-fourths of the disputed territory, most of which they retained following the peace settlement of 1938.

Paraguay had a succession of leaders in the late 1930s, some of them heroes of the war with Bolivia. Following the death of General José Felix Estigarribía in an airplane crash in 1940, General Higinio Morínigo, the minister of war, was appointed president by the cabinet. Through World War II (1939-45), Morínigo received large amounts of aid from the United States, even though he allowed widespread Axis (Germany, Italy, and Japan) activity in the country.

STROESSNER TAKES OVER

Federico Chávez ruled from 1949 until 1954. In May 1954, General Alfredo Stroessner, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, used his cavalry to seize power. With help from the United States, he brought financial stability to an economy racked by runaway inflation, but he used terrorist methods in silencing all opposition. Stroessner won a third presidential term in February 1963, despite the constitutional stipulation that a president could be reelected only once.

Stroessner ran for reelection in 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, and 1988, all with only token opposition permitted. On 17 September 1980, the exiled former dictator of Nicaragua, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who had been granted asylum by the Stroessner government, was assassinated in Asunción, and Paraguay broke off relations with Nicaragua.

During the 1980s, Stroessner relaxed his hold on Paraguay. The state of siege, which had been renewed every three months since 1959, was allowed to lapse in April 1987. However, allegations of widespread human rights abuses continued.

COUP TOPPLES STROESSNER

On 3 February 1989, Stroessner's 35-year dictatorship came to an end at the hand of General Andrés Rodríguez, second in command of the Paraguayan military. Immediately after the coup, Rodríguez announced that elections would be held in May. With only three months to prepare, little opposition was mounted, and Rodríguez won easily with 75.8% of the vote.

There followed an immediate easing of restrictions on free speech and organization. Labor unions were recognized and opposition parties allowed to operate freely. Rodríguez promised and delivered elections in 1993. In an unprecedented transfer of political power from one elected government to another, Juan Carlos Wasmosy was elected to the presidency.

Wasmosy began to push for reforms toward a market-oriented economy. The plan included the sale of state-owned enterprises. The economy, however, was slow to respond to the reforms. In 1998, Raúl Cubas Grau was elected president, marking the first time in Paraguay's history that an elected civilian succeeded another as president. Cubas claimed that corruption by the previous administration had cost the economy $2 billion since 1996.

MIGRATION

In 1985, the immigrant population totaled 199,500; the leading immigrant groups were Germans, Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, Brazilians, and Argentines. There were 5,417 official immigrants in 1991, of whom 2,188 were Brazilians.

ARMED FORCES

Paraguay's armed forces numbered 20,200 (12,900 draftees) in 1995, with about 14,900 in the army, 3,600 in the navy (including 900 marines), and 1,700 in the air force. Paraguay has compulsory military service of 18-24 months for all males between the ages of 18 and 20. Expenditures of the Ministry of Defense were $107 million in 1995.

GOVERNMENT

Paraguay is a republic, with substantial powers conferred on the executive branch. The president, who is directly elected for a five-year term, is commander-in-chief of the military and conducts foreign affairs. He appoints the 11-member cabinet, most administrators, and justices of the Supreme Court. He is advised by the Council of State, consisting of the cabinet ministers, the president of the National University, the archbishop of Asunción, the president of the Central Bank, and representatives of other sectors and the military.

The 1967 constitution provided for a two-chamber legislature, consisting of the 36-member Senate and the 72-member Chamber of Deputies. Representatives must be at least 25 years of age and are elected for five-year terms. Voting is by secret ballot and is compulsory for all citizens between 18-60 years of age.

Paraguay is divided into 19 departments subdivided into districts, which, in turn, comprise municipalities and rural districts (partidos).

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

The five-judge Supreme Court exercises both original and appeals jurisdiction. There are four appeals tribunals: civil/commercial, criminal, labor, and juvenile. There are special appeals chambers for civil and commercial cases and criminal cases. Each rural district (partido) has a judge appointed by the central government to settle local disputes and to try accused persons and sentence those found guilty.

POLITICAL PARTIES

Since the end of the War of the Triple Alliance, two parties have dominated politics--the National Republican Association (Asociación Nacional Republicana), generally known as the Colorado Party, and the Liberal Party.

TOURISM AND RECREATION

In 1994, there were 406,409 tourist arrivals, with 33% from Argentina, 20% from Brazil, and 8% from Uruguay. Tourist receipts totaled $197 million.

The monuments, museums, and parks of Asunción are the main tourist attractions. Also of interest is the world famous Iguazu Falls (Cataratas del Iguazu) at Paraguay's borders with Brazil and Argentina.

Soccer (called football in Paraguay) is the country's national sport, with some 30 clubs in Asunción alone. Tennis, horse racing, boxing, basketball, and rugby football are also popular.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Social insurance includes free medical, surgical, and hospital care for the worker and dependents; maternity care and cash benefits; sickness and accident benefits; retirement pensions at age 60; and funeral benefits. Unemployment insurance does not exist, but severance pay is provided. Domestic violence and workplace sexual harassment remain serious problems for women.

ETHNIC GROUPS

According to an estimate in the late 1980s, some 95% of the population is mestizo, principally a mixture of Spanish and Guaraní Amerindian. The others are pure Amerindian (1-3%), black, or of European or Asian immigrant stock. However, another estimate puts mestizos at 76% and Europeans at 20%. In 1986, there were about 46,700 tribal Amerindians.

LANGUAGES

Paraguay is a bilingual nation. Spanish, the dominant language, is taught in the schools and is spoken by about 55% of the people. However, about 90% of Paraguayans speak Guaraní, an Amerindian language that evolved from the southern dialect of the Tupi-Guaraní group.

RELIGIONS

Roman Catholicism is the official religion of Paraguay, and more than 93% of all Paraguayans are Catholics. In 1985, there were an estimated 67,000 Protestants, 22,000 members of Amerindian tribal religions, and 2,000 Buddhists. In 1990, there were 900 Jews.

TRANSPORTATION

The inland waterways handle more than half of Paraguay's foreign trade. Asunción, the chief port, and Concepción can accommodate oceangoing vessels. More than 90% of Paraguay's foreign trade passes to Asunción through ports in Argentina and Uruguay. In addition, Paraguay has been given free port privileges at Santos and Paranaguá, Brazil.

Road construction is another critical focus of development. In 1995, highways totaled some 21,960 kilometers (13,648 miles), but only 1,788 kilometers (1,111 miles) were paved. In 1995, 75,000 passenger cars and 50,000 commercial vehicles were in use. Altogether there are some 970 kilometers (603 miles) of railway trackage.

The modernization of Asunción's Presidente Stroessner Airport was completed in 1980. Paraguayan Air Lines (Líneas Aéreas Paraguayas--LAP) provides both domestic and international service.

FAMOUS PARAGUAYANS

Paraguay acclaims--despite their reputations as dictators--the first three leaders of the independent nation: José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia (El Supremo, 1761?-1840); his nephew Carlos Antonio López (1790-1862); and the latter's son Francisco Solano López (El Mariscal, 1827-70). Leading writers include Juan Silvano Godoi (1850-1926), former president Juan Natalicio González (1897-1966), and Hugo Rodríguez Alcalá (b.1918). Pablo Alborno (1877-1958) and Juan Domínguez Samudio (1878-1936) were noted artists, while in music, José Asunción Flores (b.1904) is a leading figure.

EDUCATION

As of 1995, the estimated illiteracy rate was 8%, 6.5% for males and 9.4% for females. Elementary education is compulsory and free between the ages of 7 and 14. In 1994, there were 5,319 public and private primary schools, with 835,089 students; and 240,906 students at the secondary level.

Universities include the National University of Paraguay and Nuestra Señora de la Asunción Catholic University. Total university and higher institution enrollment in 1993 was 42,654 students.

HEALTH

Hospital and medical facilities are generally concentrated in Asunción and other towns. In 1995, there was 1 hospital bed for every 762 people. In 1993 there was 1 doctor per 1,231 people. Approximately 60% of the population has access to health care services. In 1990-96, only 42% of the population had access to safe water and 41% had adequate sanitation.

Average life expectancy is 71 years. The principal causes of death are bacillary dysentery and other intestinal diseases, heart disease, pneumonia, and cancer.

HOUSING

Between 1982 and 1988, the number of housing units rose to 755,000 with five people per dwelling. In 1973, a National Housing Bank was established to finance low-income housing development.

POPULATION

According to the 1992 census, Paraguay had a population of 4.1 million. The population was estimated by the US Bureau of the Census at 5.3 million in 1998, and a population of 6.3 million was projected for 2005. Population density was 13 persons per square kilometer (34 persons per square mile) in 1998. The capital city, Asunción, had an estimated population of 1.1 million in 1995.

MEDIA

There were 47 radio stations in Paraguay in 1991, including the official stations, Radio Nacional of Asunción and Radio Encarnación, and the Catholic Radio Caritas. Paraguay also has four television stations. Radio sets in use numbered about 775,000 in 1994; television receivers 370,000. As of 1991, there were 111,514 telephones in use, most of them in Asunción.

Newspaper readership is among the lowest in Latin America. Leading newspapers (with 1995 circulation) are Patria/Union (10,000); Hoy (40,000); and Ultima Hora (40,000).

AGRICULTURE

Land area under cultivation amounts to 5.7% of Paraguay's total land area. Primary agriculture accounts for about 26% of the domestic economy. The two most widely cultivated crops are manioc (cassava) and corn, which, with meat, are the staples of the Paraguayan diet.

Cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane are among the leading cash and export crops. Wheat production was 400,000 tons in 1995/96, eliminating the need for wheat imports. Enough beans, lentils, sweet potatoes, peanuts, coffee, and fruits are grown for home use, and slightly more than enough rice.

Crops yielding edible oils are widely grown, and yerba maté (holly used for tea) is cultivated on plantations. Production of principal crops for 1996 (in tons) included sugar cane, 2.8 million; manioc, 2.8 million; soybeans, 1.5 million; corn, 735,000; cotton, 350,000; and tobacco, 8,000.

DOMESTICATED ANIMALS

Cattle-raising forms a significant part of the country's economy. In 1995, livestock totaled 9.8 million head of cattle, 2.7 million hogs, 386,000 sheep, and 370,000 horses. Beef production was about 226,000 tons. Other livestock products in 1995 included 291,000 tons of milk and 46,792 tons of eggs.

ENERGY AND POWER

In 1973, Paraguay and Brazil agreed on the joint construction of the Itaipú power plant, the world's largest hydroelectric project. The plant, which began operating in 1984, produces 70% of Paraguay's electricity, or about 75 billion kilowatt hours per year. Total power production was 40 billion kilowatt hours in 1995.

FISHING

Paraguay has no sizable fishing industry, and the consumption of fresh fish is low. The Paraguay River yields salmon, surubi, pacú, boga, and mandi. The catch was 13,900 tons in 1994.

FORESTRY

Although forest resources are immense, exploitation is limited by lack of roads and mechanized transport facilities. About 32% of Paraguay's total land area consists of forest and woodland (12.8 million hectares/31.8 million acres in 1994). Roundwood cuttings totaled 10.4 million cubic meters (13.6 million cubic yards) in 1995, with 63% used for fuel.

MINING

Excellent limestone, found in large quantities along the Paraguay River north of Concepción, is quarried for the cement industry. Sandstone, mica, copper, kaolin, clay, and salt have been exploited modestly, and there are known deposits of azurite, barite, gypsum, lignite, malachite, mica, peat, pyrite, pyrolusite, soapstone, and uranium.

ECONOMY

Landlocked Paraguay has a limited economy based principally on agriculture, livestock production, forestry, and the basic processing of materials. In recent years, the relative importance of agriculture has declined, and the value of services has risen; however, cattle-raising remains a key economic activity. There is also a large underground economy.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Paraguay suffered from runaway inflation. An economic reform package was introduced in the early 1990s. It included judicial reform, keeping down government expenses, loosening controls over the exchange rate, and privatizing state-owned enterprises.

INCOME

In 1995, Paraguay's gross national product (GNP) was $8.16 billion at current prices, or about $1,850 per person. For the period 1985-95 the average annual inflation rate was 24.9%, resulting in a real growth rate in GNP of 1.1%.

INDUSTRY

Among Paraguay's industrial strengths are the processing of agricultural, animal, and forestry products, mainly for export, and small-scale manufacturing of consumer goods for local needs. Most manufacturing is done in the Asunción area, but some plants are located near the source of the raw material used by the particular industry.

Food-processing plants include slaughterhouses, flour mills, sugar mills, oil mills for the production of cottonseed and peanut oils for domestic consumption, as well as castor, tung, coco, and palm oils for export. Related industries process the by-products of oil extraction, and mills produce yerba maté. There are numerous sawmills. A considerable but decreasing number of hides are also produced for export.

Although there is a considerable textile industry, imports still run high. Products for domestic consumption include pharmaceutical and chemical goods, finished wood and furniture, brick and tiles, cigars and cigarettes, candles, shoes, matches, soap, and small metal goods.

LABOR

In 1994, there were over 1 million employed persons in Paraguay. In 1994, agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry employed 3.8% of the work force; industry and commerce, 47%; service (including government), 30%; and other sectors, 10%.

The 1992 constitution provides Paraguayans in both the public and private sector the freedom to form and join unions without government interference.

Minimum age laws regulate child labor, but many children are nevertheless employed in agriculture and certain urban occupations, especially in the "informal" economy.

FOREIGN TRADE

Agricultural, animal, and forest products are exported, and foods, transportation equipment, machinery, chemicals, textiles, and other manufactured goods are imported. In 1996, Brazil accounted for 54% of Paraguay's exports; Argentina, 4.3%; and Uruguay, 4.2%. That same year, Brazil supplied 31.3% of Paraguay's imports; Argentina, 16.2%; and Uruguay, 1.7%. The United States, Hong Kong, and Japan are other important trade partners.