Paraguay

Find a country's flag, map or national anthem here. Click on a letter to find the country:

Paraguay

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name República del Paraguay/Republic of Paraguay Area 406,752 sq km/157,046 sq mi Capital Asunción (and chief port) Language Spanish (official), Guaraní (an indigenous Indian language) Religion Roman Catholic (official religion) 85%; Mennonite, Anglican Time difference GMT -3/4 Major holidays 1 January, 3 February, 1 March, 1, 14–15 May, 12 June, 15, 25 August, 29 September, 12 October, 1 November, 8, 25, 31 December; variable: Corpus Christi, Good Friday, Holy Thursday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Ciudad del Este, Pedro Juan Caballero, San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambare, Luque, Capiatá Major ports Concepción Physical features low marshy plain and marshlands; divided by Paraguay River; Paraná River forms southeast boundary Airports two international airports and three domestic airports; total passengers carried: 313,000 (2003 est) Railways total length: 441 km/274 mi Roads total road network: 29,500 km/18,331 mi, of which 50.8% paved (1999 est); passenger cars: 87.8 per 1,000 people (2001 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state and government Oscar Duarte Frutos from 2003 Political system emergent democracy Political executive limited presidency Administrative divisions 17 departments and the capital district of Asunción Political parties National Republican Association (Colorado Party), right of centre; Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), centrist; National Encounter, right of centre; Radical Liberal Party (PLR), centrist; Liberal Party (PL), centrist Death penalty abolished in 1992 Armed forces 10,300; plus 164,500 reservists and paramilitary forces of 14,800 (2006 est) Conscription 12 months (army) or 24 months (navy) Defence spend (% GDP) 0.7 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 4.4 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 2.3 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency guaraní GDP (US$) 8.2 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 3.5 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 7.9 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 4,970 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 8.9% (2006 est) Unemployment 8% (2004 est) Labour force 31.5% agriculture, 15.8% industry, 52.7% services (2004) Foreign debt (US$) 3.6 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina Resources gypsum, kaolin, limestone, salt; deposits (not commercially exploited) of bauxite, iron ore, copper, manganese, uranium; deposits of natural gas discovered in 1994; exploration for petroleum deposits ongoing mid-1990s Industries food processing, beverages, tobacco, wood and wood products, textiles (cotton), clothing, leather, chemicals, metal products, machinery Exports soybeans (and other oil seeds), cotton, timber and wood manufactures, hides and skins, meat. Principal market: Uruguay 28.5% (2005) Imports machinery, vehicles and parts, mineral fuels and lubricants, beverages, tobacco, chemicals, foodstuffs. Principal source: Brazil 27.2% (2005) Arable land 7.5% (2006 est) Agricultural products cassava, soybeans, maize, cotton, wheat, rice, tobacco, sugar cane, ‘yerba maté’ (strongly flavoured tea); livestock rearing; forest resources


POPULATION

Population 6,300,800 (2006 est) Population growth rate 2.2% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 15 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 59 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 37%, 15–59 57%, 60+ 6% (2005 est) Ethnic groups predominantly mixed-race mestizos (94%); Asian 5%, foreigners and Indian 1% Life expectancy 70 (men); 74 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 24 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 9 Literacy rate 93% (men); 90% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 11.7 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 1.3 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.4 (2005 est) AIDS deaths <500 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 100 (urban); 62 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 5.2 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 30.6 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 182 (1997) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 216 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 7.5 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 3.3 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

1526 Visited by Italian navigator Sebastian Cabot, who travelled up the Paraná River; at this time the east of the country had long been inhabited by Guaraní-speaking Amerindians, who gave the country its name, which means ‘land with an important river’. 1537 Spanish made an alliance with Guaraní Indians against hostile Chaco Indians, enabling them to colonize interior plains; Asunción founded by Spanish. 1609 Jesuits arrived from Spain to convert local population to Roman Catholicism and administer the country. 1767 Jesuit missionaries expelled. 1776 Formerly part of Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, which covered much of South America, became part of Viceroyalty of La Plata, with capital at Buenos Aires (Argentina). 1808 With Spanish monarchy overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte, La Plata Viceroyalty became autonomous, but Paraguayans revolted against rule from Buenos Aires. 1811 Independence achieved from Spain. 1814 Under dictator Gen José Gaspar Rodriguez Francia (‘El Supremo’), Paraguay became an isolated state. 1840 Francia was succeeded by his nephew, Carlos Antonio Lopez, who opened country to foreign trade and whose son, Francisco Solano Lopez, as president from 1862, built up a powerful army. 1865–70 War with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay over access to sea; more than half the population died and 150,000 sq km/58,000 sq mi of territory lost. late 1880s Conservative Colorado Party and Liberal Party founded. 1912 Liberal leader Edvard Schaerer came to power, ending decades of political instability. 1932–35 Territory in west won from Bolivia during Chaco War (settled by arbitration in 1938). 1940–48 Presidency of autocratic Gen Higinio Morínigo. 1948–54 Political instability; six different presidents. 1954 Gen Alfredo Stroessner seized power in a coup. He ruled as a ruthless autocrat, suppressing civil liberties; the country received initial US backing as the economy expanded. 1989 Stroessner ousted in coup led by Gen Andrés Rodríguez. Rodríguez elected president; right-of-centre military-backed Colorado Party won assembly elections. 1992 New democratic constitution adopted. 1993 Colorado Party won most seats in first free multiparty elections, but no overall majority; its candidate, Juan Carlos Wasmosy, won presidential elections. 1999 Aenate leader Luis Gonzalez Macchi became president. 2000 Attempted coup, led by supporters of ex-army chief Lino Oviedo, failed after USA and Brazil put pressure on army commanders. Opposition candidate, Julio César Franco, of Authentic Liberal Radical Party, won vice-presidential elections. Congress approved privatization programme. 2003 Oscar Nicanor Duarte Frutos of ruling Colorado Party won presidential election. Predecessor Macchi put on trial on corruption charges. 2004 Peasants organized series of protests and land invasions, calling for redistribution of agricultural properties. Three days of national mourning declared following fire in Asuncion shopping centre where more than 420 people died. 2005 Congress's lower house rejected government proposals to privatize utilities. More than 30 states took part in first conference of landlocked countries in Paraguay. Former president Macchi sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud and embezzlement. 2006 Former military dictator Alfredo Stroessner died in Brazil, aged 93. 2007 State of emergency declared in response to outbreak of dengue fever. Health official in charge of tackling outbreak, which had claimed at least 10 lives, was sacked.


© Research Machines plc 2008. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.