Paraguay (pah-rah-GWEI), republic (157,047 sq mi/406,752 sq km; 1992 population 4,152,588; 2004 estimated population 6,191,368), S central South America, (cap.) Asunción.
Geography
Bolivia and Paraguay are the two landlocked nations of the continent. Paraguay is enclosed by Bolivia, Brazil, and Argentina. The E part of the country, between the Paraguay and Paraná rivers, is where most of the population lives and most of the farming takes place. It is a lowland, rising in the E and N to a plateau region. The Paraná, S of the Iguaçu River (with its magnificent falls), separates Paraguay from Argentina. The Paraguay River also forms a border with Argentina from its confluence with the Paraná N to the Pilcomayo River. Since railroad service to Argentina and Brazil is poor, improving the Paraná is of vital importance to Paraguay. Hydrovia, the proposed waterway to straighten and deepen the Paraná, was approved by Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay in 1994. The section W of the Paraguay River is a dry plain, part of the Gran Chaco.
Population
The population is largely mestizo, a mixture of Spanish and Guaraní elements. There has been considerable emigration to neighboring countries, especially Argentina. Spanish is the official language, but Guaraní, spoken by 95% of the population, is also considered a national language. The Jesuit missions (the Reductions, active from the late 16th to the 18th century) made it possible for the Guaraní culture to blend with the Spanish. In the 19th and 20th centuries, European immigrants—German, Italian, and French, with some Irish and Scots—added new elements to the distinctive civilization of Paraguay. The most recent immigrant communities have been from Japan and Brazil. The country’s arts and handicrafts reflect the various strains. A notable musical contribution, for example, is the guaranía, a form developed from native melodies by José Asunción Flores during the Chaco War. Nanduti (spider web) lace is the most famous Paraguayan handicraft. The isolated indigenous groups that live in the Chaco and elsewhere have little part in the national life. The established religion is Roman Catholicism. Most of the small number of Protestants are Mennonites. There are two universities, National(1890) and Catholic (1960), both in Asunción.
Economy
Cattle are raised and quebracho is found in the woodlands of the Chaco Boreal. Paraguay is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and more than half of its workers are engaged in agriculture and forestry; less than 15% work in industry and mining. The principal crops are cotton, soybeans, rice, corn, wheat, and tobacco. Orange groves furnish a large part of the world’s supply of petitgrain, used in perfumes and flavorings. Cattle raising plays an important role in the economy. In addition to quebracho, hardwoods and cedars are commercially exploited. Meatpacking, textile manufacturing, brewing, and the production of other consumer goods are the main industries. Sandstone, clay, and limestone are found. The leading exports are meats, cotton, soybeans, oils, and timber. The leading imports are foodstuffs, vehicles and machinery, chemicals, fuels, and iron. Brazil, Uruguay, Switzerland, and Argentina are the main trade partners. Customs duties furnish an important part of Paraguay’s revenues. All the important cities are in the E. Besides Asunción, they are Ciudad del Este, Villarrica, Concepción, and Encarnación. Although river transportation is the primary means of moving goods, Paraguay also has road and railroad systems.
History to 1776
European influence in Paraguay began with the early explorations of the Río de la Plata. Juan Díaz de Solís was the first to come (1516), and Sebastian Cabot followed him (1527) to the Paraguay River, which was thought to offer access to Peru. Asunción became the nucleus of the La Plata region, and a colony was developed here. Domingo Mantínez de Irala dominated the colony until his death (1556 or 1557) and clashed with Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. At the end of the 16th century Hernando Arias de Saavedra, called Hernandarias, became governor of Río de la Plata province, of which Paraguay was a part; it was through his efforts that the administrations of present Argentina and Paraguay were separated (1617). The Jesuit missions were founded in the days of Hernandarias (most of them in the trans-Paraná area, now in Argentina). Real independence from Spain was asserted in 1721 when José de Antequera led the comuneros of Asunción in a successful revolt and governed independently for some ten years.
History - 1776 to 1932
In 1776 the region was made part of the viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. Manuel Belgrano was unsuccessful in carrying the Argentinian revolution against Spain into Paraguay in 1810, but the next year the colonial officials here were quietly overthrown. In 1814 the first of Paraguay’s three great dictators came to power. He was José Gaspar Rodríguez Francia, the incorruptible, harsh, and autocratic dictator known as El Supremo, who kept Paraguay in the palm of his hand until his death in 1840. He was succeeded by another dictator, Carlos Antonio López, who held absolute power from 1844 to 1862. His son, Francisco Solano López, succeeded him and brought on disaster by involving Paraguay in the War of the Triple Alliance with Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay (1865–1870). The Paraguayans fought heroically and sustained the loss of more than jalf their population. Recovery from the catastrophe was slow, and the desperate state of the economy was matched by political confusion, as warring caudillos established short-lived dictatorships. Nevertheless, in the late 19th and early 20th century conditions improved. Trade increased as Paraguayan products found markets, immigration was encouraged, and farming and modest little industries prospered fitfully.
History - 1932 to 1967
The unsettled boundary with Bolivia, however, turned from an irritation into a threat, and in 1932 Paraguay plunged into another major war—the Chaco War, which lasted until 1935. From it the little country emerged victorious but exhausted. Afterward, the rapid succession of governments was broken by the years when Higinio Morínigo was in power (1940–1948). Signs of recovery from the Chaco War appeared in improvements in education, public health, and roads, but the oppressive dictatorship of Morínigo was challenged by numerous uprisings. He was overthrown in 1948, and the country was again subjected to a series of short-lived governments. General Alfredo Stroessner engineered a successful coup in 1954. Stroessner repeatedly suppressed opposition, and was reelected in 1958 and 1963.
History - 1967 to Present
The 1967 constitution permitted him to be reelected again in 1968 and 1973. Starting in the late 1960s, churchmen and students sporadically protested the government’s repressive character. On February 3, 1989, Stroessner was overthrown by rebel troops under General Andres Rodríguez, who was elected president on May 1, 1989. Stroessner fled to Brazil. A new constitution (1992) reduced the executive’s power and strengthened local governments. In 1993, Juan Carlos Wasmosy was elected president, but was weakened by a divided legislature. Many were unhappy with his strong ties to the business and military leaders formerly linked to Stroessner. Labor strikes in 1994, a banking scandal in 1995, and farmers demanding more equitable land distribution brought concerns about future political stability. In 1973, Paraguay and Brazil agreed to build a huge hydroelectric project on the Paraná River at Itaipú, jointly sharing in its costs and benefits. The Itaipú Dam, completed in 1988, is one of the world’s largest and the electricity generated by the development is economically vital to Paraguay. The large Yacyreta Dam and Reservoir will provide additional development momentum.
Government
Paraguay is governed under a 1967 constitution, which was amended in 1977. The president, popularly elected, serves a five-year term. The legislature has two houses, a thirty-six-member senate and a seventy-two-member chamber of deputies. The chief of state is President Nicanor Duarte Frutos. He is also head of government.
