Paraguay is located in Central South America, northeast of Argentina.
Paraguay has borders with Argentina for 1880km, Bolivia for 750km and Brazil for 1290km.
Land in Paraguay is grassy plains and wooded hills east of Rio Paraguay; Gran Chaco region west of Rio Paraguay mostly low, marshy plain near the river, and dry forest and thorny scrub elsewhere.
Paraguayan land covers an area of 406750 square kilometers which is slightly smaller than California
As for the Paraguayan climate; subtropical to temperate; substantial rainfall in the eastern portions, becoming semiarid in the far west.
Paraguayan(s) speak Spanish (official), Guarani (official).
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Alto Paraguay Alto Paraná Amambay Asunción Boquerón Caaguazú Caazapá Canindeyú Central Concepción | Cordillera Guairá Itapúa Misiones Ñeembucú Paraguarí Paraguay (general) Presidente Hayes San Pedro |
In the disastrous War of the Triple Alliance (1865-70), Paraguay lost two-thirds of all adult males and much of its territory. It stagnated economically for the next half century. In the Chaco War of 1932-35, large, economically important areas were won from Bolivia. The 35-year military dictatorship of Alfredo STROESSNER was overthrown in 1989, and, despite a marked increase in political infighting in recent years, relatively free and regular presidential elections have been held since then.
Landlocked Paraguay has a market economy marked by a large informal sector. This sector features both reexport of imported consumer goods to neighboring countries, as well as the activities of thousands of microenterprises and urban street vendors. Because of the importance of the informal sector, accurate economic measures are difficult to obtain. A large percentage of the population derives its living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence basis. The formal economy grew by an average of about 3% annually in 1995-97, but averaged near-zero growth in 1998-2001 and contracted by 2.3 percent in 2002, in response to regional contagion and an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease. On a per capita basis, real income has stagnated at 1980 levels. Most observers attribute Paraguay's poor economic performance to political uncertainty, corruption, lack of progress on structural reform, substantial internal and external debt, and deficient infrastructure. Aided by a firmer exchange rate and perhaps a greater confidence in the economic policy of the DUARTE FRUTOS administration, the economy rebounded between 2003 and 2005, posting modest growth each year.
Paraguayan natural resources include hydropower, timber, iron ore, manganese, limestone
landlocked; lies between Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil; population concentrated in southern part of country
Paraguayan religion is Roman Catholic 90%, Mennonite and other Protestant 10%.
Natural hazards in Paraguay include local flooding in southeast (early September to June); poorly drained plains may become boggy (early October to June).