Paraguay
Fast facts
- Capital
- Asunción
- Largest city
- Asunción
- Currency
- Guaraní
- Time zone
- PYT
- Drives on
- right
- Calling code
- +595
Facts from Wikipedia’s “Paraguay” page (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay (República del Paraguay), is a small country in South America. It is landlocked, meaning that it is not next to the ocean. It is bordered to the North and East by Brazil, the West by Bolivia, and the South and Southeast by Argentina. The main languages are Spanish and Guaraní. Paraguay’s population is about 6 million. The ethnic makeup of the population is the following: Mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian) 80%, European 20%, unmixed Amerindian 1-3%, Asian 1-4%.
Over (20%) of the population lives below the poverty line.
Paraguay has two official languages, Spanish and Guaraní. Guaraní is recognized as a national language.
The capital city is Asuncion. Asuncion was founded in 1537 by a Spaniard named Juan de Salazar. Paraguay was a colony of Spain, but became independent in 1811.
From 1865-1870 Paraguay lost land and most of its male population in the War of the Triple Alliance against Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. It gained land in the Chaco War against Bolivia in the 1930s.
Paraguay’s main religion is Roman Catholicism.
The weather is humid in the east and dry in the west.
Administrative subdivisions
Paraguay has 17 departments and one capital district (Distrito Capital). The departments are formed by districts.
The departments are grouped in two geographic regions, separated by the Paraguay river:
- Occidental (Western) region or Chaco, to the north of the Paraguay river (departments: Alto Paraguay, Boquerón and Presidente Hayes)
- Oriental (Eastern) region, to the south of the Paraguay river (departments: Alto Paraná, Amambay, Caaguazú, Caazapá, Canindeyú, Central, Concepción, Cordillera, Guairá, Itapúa, Misiones, Paraguarí, San Pedro and Ñeembucú; the capital district is part of this region)
Written for younger readers
Paraguay, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: South America
Paraguay shares with Brazil the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, Itaipu. Itaipu is an indigenous name for “the stone that sings”, because of the sound that the water produces when it hits the stones of that region, formed by huge cascades of Paraná river. The hydroelectric plant of Itaipu is so impressive that it was even called one of the seven wonders of modern world!
Also, one must take into account the huge amount of money that was stolen by Stroessner government (most of the richest families in Paraguay—partners of Stroessners’ business—owe their richness to the Itaipú Golden Era) and the environmental impact that resulted from such a construction. Many species that existed only in Paraguay cannot longer be taken into account in existing species.
Today, with the biggest hydroelectric power plant in the world, Paraguay still has a steel factory running on wood as fuel, and the electric train in Asuncion (capital city) is only a nostalgic remembrance. Diesel fumes pervade the country and ash and smoke are the constant ingredients of the electric carnival.
Part of Wikijunior South America project
Paraguay is one of only two countries in South America that don’t have beaches. It’s landlocked by other countries. But nature seems to compensate Paraguay for the missing ocean access: there are many rivers. The most important river is the Rio Paraguay, used mainly for transportation. An other river, the Rio Paraná, is used for electric energy production.
The Chaco–also known as the “Gran Chaco”– is a vast plain extending from northern Paraguay to areas of Argentina and Bolivia. This area is essentially dry grassland with occasional dense semi-tropical jungles. This is one of the hottest places in South America. What makes this area special is that the animals and plants have been preserved as they were before it became inhabited by humans. It is one of the few places in the Americas where people have not interfered much with the environment.
Paraguay has a population around 6,670,000. Despite of having Spanish as its official language, the majority of Paraguayan people speak the Guaraní language. The Guaraní are a native group of South America, like the Incas or the Comanches of North America.
Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Paraguay” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.
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