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Republic of Paraguay
National name: República del
Paraguay
President: Fernando Lugo (2008)
Current government officials
Land area: 153,398 sq mi (397,301 sq km);
total area: 157,046 sq mi (406,750 sq km)
Population (2007 est.): 6,667,147
(growth rate: 2.4%); birth rate: 28.8/1000; infant mortality rate:
23.9/1000; life expectancy: 75.3; density per sq mi: 43
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Asunción, 1,482,200 (metro. area), 525,100
Other large cities: Ciudad del
Este, 239,500; San Lorenzo, 210,000
Monetary unit: Guaraní
Languages:
Spanish, Guaraní (both official)
Ethnicity/race:
mestizo 95%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 90%, Mennonite, other
Protestant 10%
Literacy rate: 94% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007
est.): $27.08 billion; per capita $4,500. Real growth rate:
6.4%. Inflation: 8.1%. Unemployment: 5.6%.
Arable land: 7.47%. Agriculture: cotton, sugarcane,
soybeans, corn, wheat, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), fruits,
vegetables; beef, pork, eggs, milk; timber. Labor force:
2.735 million; agriculture 31%; industry 17%; services 52%.
Industries: sugar, cement, textiles, beverages, wood
products, steel, metallurgic, electric power. Natural resources:
hydropower, timber, iron ore, manganese, limestone.
Exports: $6.898 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): soybeans, feed,
cotton, meat, edible oils, electricity, wood, leather.
Imports: $7.012 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): road vehicles,
consumer goods, tobacco, petroleum products, electrical machinery.
Major trading partners: Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina,
Switzerland, China, U.S. (2004).
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 331,100 (2006); mobile cellular: 3.233 million (2006).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 41, FM 121, shortwave 6 (3
inactive) (2006). Radios: 925,000 (1997). Television
broadcast stations: 5 (2007). Televisions: 990,000
(2001). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 12,497 (2007).
Internet users: 260,000 (2006).
Transportation: Railways: total: 441 km
(2002). Highways: total: 29,500 km; paved: 14,986 km;
unpaved: 14,514 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 3,100 km. Ports
and harbors: Asuncion, Villeta, San Antonio, Encarnacion.
Airports: 838 (2007).
International conflicts: unruly region
at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of
money laundering, smuggling, arms and drug trafficking, and harbors
Islamist militants.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
California-size Paraguay is surrounded by Brazil, Bolivia, and
Argentina in south-central South America. Eastern Paraguay, between the
Paraná and Paraguay rivers, is upland country with the thickest population
settled on the grassy slope that inclines toward the Paraguay River. The
greater part of the Chaco region to the west is covered with marshes,
lagoons, dense forests, and jungles.
Government
Constitutional republic.
History
Indians speaking Guaraní—the most common language in Paraguay today,
after Spanish—were the country's first inhabitants. In 1526 and again in
1529, Sebastian Cabot explored Paraguay when he sailed up the Paraná and
Paraguay rivers. From 1608 until their expulsion from the Spanish
dominions in 1767, the Jesuits maintained an extensive establishment in
the south and east of Paraguay. In 1811, Paraguay revolted against Spanish
rule and became a nominal republic under two consuls.
Paraguay was governed by three dictators during the first 60 years of
independence. The third, Francisco López, waged war against Uruguay,
Brazil, and Argentina in 1865–1870, a conflict in which half the male
population was killed. A new constitution in 1870, designed to prevent
dictatorships and internal strife, failed to do so, and not until 1912 did
a period of comparative economic and political stability begin. The Chaco
War (1932–1935) with Bolivia won Paraguay more western territory.
After World War II, politics became particularly unstable. Alfredo
Stroessner was dictator from 1954 until 1989, during which he was accused
of the torture and murder of thousands of political opponents. Despite
Paraguay's human rights record, the U.S. continuously supported
Stroessner.
Stroessner was overthrown by army leader Gen. Andres Rodriguez in 1989.
Rodriguez went on to win Paraguay's first multicandidate election in
decades. Paraguay's new constitution went into effect in 1992. In 1993,
Juan Carlos Wasmosy, a wealthy businessman and the candidate of the
governing Colorado Party, won a five-year term in free elections.
Raúl Cubas Grau was elected president in May 1998. In 1999, Cubas was
forced from office for his alleged involvement in the assassination of
Vice President Luis María Argaña. The vice president had criticized Cubas
for refusing to jail his mentor, Gen. Lino Oviedo, who had been convicted
of leading a failed 1996 coup against Wasmosy. Oviedo was finally arrested
in 2004 and jailed.
Luis Ángel González Macchi, appointed caretaker president after Cubas
stepped down, was accused of mishandling $16 million in state funds, and
in 2006 he was sentenced to six years in prison. Former journalist Nicanor
Duarte Frutos became president on Aug. 15, 2003. He has pledged to clean
up the pervasive corruption in his nearly bankrupt country. Paraguay has
been in a protracted recession since the late 1990s.
On April 22, 2008, Fernando Lugo, a former Roman Catholic Bishop, was
elected president of Paraguay beating the Colorado Party's candidate,
Blanca Ovelar de Duarte, by 10 percentage points. Lugo's victory ended the
Colorado Party's 61 years in power—a system of bureaucracy and patronage
founded in 1887. Fernando Lugo was sworn in as president on August 15,
2008.
See also Encyclopedia: Paraguay.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Paraguay
General Directorate of Statistics, Surveys and Censuses
(In Spanish only) www.dgeec.gov.py/ .
Fact Monster/Information Please®
Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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