Paraguay
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Paraguay is one of two land-locked countries in South America. It is borded by Bolivia in the northwest, Brazil in the east, and Argentina in the south and southwest. Its population is concentrated in southern part of country.
Its major environmental issues include deforestation; water pollution; inadequate means for waste disposal pose health risks for many urban residents; and loss of wetlands.
In the disastrous War of the Triple Alliance (1865-70) - between Paraguay and Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay - 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, Paraguay won large, economically important areas from Bolivia. The 35-year military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner ended in 1989, and, despite a marked increase in political infighting in recent years, Paraguay has held relatively free and regular presidential elections since then.
Geography
Location: Central South America, northeast of Argentina
Geographic Coordinates: 23 00 S, 58 00 W
Area: 406,750 km2 (397,300 km2 land and 9,450 km2 water)
arable land: 7.47%
permanent crops: 0.24%
other: 92.29% (2005)
Land Boundaries: 3,995 km - border countries: [[Argentina] 1,880 km, Bolivia 750 km, Brazil 1,365 km
Coastline: None
Maritime Claims: None
Natural Hazards: Local flooding in southeast (early September to June); poorly drained plains may become boggy (early October to June)
Terrain: 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. The lowest point: junction of Rio Paraguay and Rio Parana (46 metres). Its highest point is Cerro Pero (Cerro Tres Kandu) (842 metres).
Climate: Subtropical to temperate; substantial rainfall in the eastern portions, becoming semiarid in the far west.
Capital: Asuncion
Biodiversity and Ecology
The Atlantic Forest or Mata Atlântica stretches along Brazil's Atlantic coast, from the northern state of Rio Grande do Norte south to Rio Grande do Sul. It extends inland to eastern Paraguay and the province of Misiones in northeastern Argentina, and narrowly along the coast into Uruguay. Also included in this hotspot is the offshore archipelago of Fernando de Noronha and several other islands off the Brazilian coast. Long isolated from other major rainforest blocks in South America, the Atlantic Forest has an extremely diverse and unique mix of vegetation and forest types. The most extensive woodland/savanna region in South America, the Cerrado is also the only hotspot that consists largely of savanna, woodland/savanna and dry forest ecosystems. Within the region, there is a mosaic of different vegetation types, including tree and scrub savanna, grassland with scattered trees, and occasional patches of a dry, closed canopy forest called the cerradão. Gallery forests are found throughout the region, although they are technically not considered part of the typical Cerrado formations.
Ecoregions
International Environmental Agreements
Paraguay is party to international agreements on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands.
People and Society
Population: 6,995,655 (July 2009 est.)
Age Structure: Median age: 21.9 years
0-14 years: 36.7% (male 1,304,115/female 1,260,560)
15-64 years: 58.1% (male 2,043,509/female 2,023,317)
65 years and over: 5.2% (male 168,554/female 195,600) (2009 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 2.364% (2009 est.)
Birthrate: 28.47 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 4.49 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: -0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: 75.77 years
Total Fertility Rate: 3.75 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Languages: Spanish (official), Guarani (official)
Literacy: 94%
Economy
Landlocked Paraguay has a market economy marked by a large informal sector, featuring reexport of imported consumer goods to neighboring countries, as well as the activities of thousands of microenterprises and urban street vendors. A large percentage of the population, especially in rural areas, derives its living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence basis. Because of the importance of the informal sector, accurate economic measures are difficult to obtain. On a per capita basis, real income has stagnated at 1980 levels. Most observers attribute Paraguay's poor economic performance to political uncertainty, corruption, limited progress on structural reform, and deficient infrastructure. The economy rebounded between 2003 and 2008, however, as growing world demand for commodities combined with high prices and favorable weather to support Paraguay's commodity-based export expansion. Paraguay is the sixth largest soy producer in the world.
GDP: (Purchasing Power Parity): $28.71 billion (2008 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 5.5% (2008 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $4,200 (2008 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 23.1%
industry: 17.2%
services: 59.6% (2008 est.)
Industries: Sugar, cement, textiles, beverages, wood products, steel, metallurgic, electric power
Natural Resources: Hydropower, timber, iron ore, manganese, limestone.
Currency: sugar, cement, textiles, beverages, wood products, steel, metallurgic, electric power
Further Reading
- The CIA World Factbook
- World Wildlife Fund homepage
- Conservation International homepage
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