| Paraguay |
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| Background: 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, 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. |
| Geography and Environmental |
Capital: name: Asuncion
geographic coordinates: 25 16 S, 57 40 W
time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Area Total: 406,750 sq km |
| Area Land: 397,300 sq km |
| Area Water: 9,450 sq km |
| Area Comparative: slightly smaller than California |
| Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) |
| Climate: subtropical to temperate; substantial rainfall in the eastern portions, becoming semiarid in the far west |
| 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 |
| Elevation Extremes Lowest Point: junction of Rio Paraguay and Rio Parana 46 m |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: Cerro Pero (Cerro Tres Kandu) 842 m |
| Natural Resources: hydropower, timber, iron ore, manganese, limestone |
| Land Use Arable Land: 7.47% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 0.24% |
| Land Use Other: 92.29% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 670 sq km (2003) |
| Natural Hazards: local flooding in southeast (early September to June); poorly drained plains may become boggy (early October to June) |
| Environment Current Issues: deforestation; water pollution; inadequate means for waste disposal pose health risks for many urban residents; loss of wetlands |
| Geography Note: landlocked; lies between Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil; population concentrated in southern part of country |
| Population |
| Population: 6,669,086 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 37.2% (male 1,262,408/female 1,220,809) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 57.7% (male 1,933,559/female 1,915,033) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 5.1% (male 155,660/female 181,617) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 21.6 years |
| Median Age Male: 21.3 years |
| Median Age Female: 21.8 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: 2.416% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 28.77 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 4.54 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.05 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.034 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 1.01 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.857 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 26.45 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 30.73 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 21.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 75.34 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 72.78 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 78.02 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 3.84 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.5% (2003 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: 15,000 (1999 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: 600 (2003 est.) |
| Religions: Roman Catholic 89.6%, Protestant 6.2%, other Christian 1.1%, other or unspecified 1.9%, none 1.1% (2002 census) |
| Languages: Spanish (official), Guarani (official) |
| Literacy Definition: age 15 and over can read and write |
| Literacy Total Population: 94% |
| Literacy Male: 94.9% |
| Literacy Female: 93% (2003 est.) |
| Administrative Divisions: 17 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 1 capital city*; Alto Paraguay, Alto Parana, Amambay, Asuncion*, Boqueron, Caaguazu, Caazapa, Canindeyu, Central, Concepcion, Cordillera, Guaira, Itapua, Misiones, Neembucu, Paraguari, Presidente Hayes, San Pedro |
| Legal System: based on Argentine codes, Roman law, and French codes; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court of Justice; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Economy |
| Overview: 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. 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 2006, posting modest growth each year. |
| GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $30.64 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 4% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 22.4% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 18.4% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 59.2% (2006 est.) |
| Labor Force: 2.742 million (2006 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 45%
industry: NA%
services: NA% |
| Unemployment Rate: 9.4% (2005 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 43.8% (1998) |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 12.5% (2006 est.) |
| Industries: sugar, cement, textiles, beverages, wood products, steel, metallurgic, electric power |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: 0% (2000 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 51.77 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 99.9% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 0.1% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 3.133 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Exports: 45.01 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Oil Production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Consumption: 27,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Production: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Exports: $1.69 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: soybeans, feed, cotton, meat, edible oils, electricity, wood, leather |
| Exports Partners: Uruguay 28.4%, Brazil 19.3%, Argentina 6.4%, Russia 6%, China 4.1% (2005) |
| Imports: $4.5 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: road vehicles, consumer goods, tobacco, petroleum products, electrical machinery |
| Imports Partners: Brazil 27.2%, China 20.5%, Argentina 19.7%, US 5.3%, Switzerland 4.2% (2005) |
| Debt External: $3.722 billion (2006 est.) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $NA |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 320,300 (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 1.887 million (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: meager telephone service; principal switching center is in Asuncion |
| Telephone System Domestic: fair microwave radio relay network |
| Telephone System International: country code - 595; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 46, FM 27, shortwave 6 (3 inactive) (1998) |
| Radios: 925,000 (1997) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 5 (2003) |
| Televisions: 990,000 (2001) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: 4 (2000) |
| Internet Users: 200,000 (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Railways Total: 36 km |
| Railways Standard Gauge: 36 km 1.435-m gauge (2005) |
| Waterways: 3,100 km (2005) |
| Airports: 881 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 1% (2006 est.) |
| Disputes International: unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of money laundering, smuggling, arms and illegal narcotics trafficking, and fundraising for extremist organizations |
| IllicitDrugs: major illicit producer of cannabis, most or all of which is consumed in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile; transshipment country for Andean cocaine headed for Brazil, other Southern Cone markets, and Europe; corruption and some money-laundering activity, especially in the Tri-Border Area; weak anti-money-laundering laws and enforcement |