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Where is Paraguay?
About Paraguay
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

Paraguay is a vast country in the centre of South America.

Paraguay is a landlocked country with no coastline.

The land is a mixture of hills and plains.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Paraguay, also known as lines of latitude and longtitude, are:-
Latitude - 23 00S
Longitude - 58 00W

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Check the weather in Asuncion now.

This is the time in Asuncion now

The Paraguayan flag is 3 equal horizontal stripes of red, white and blue. There is an emblem in the centre of the white stripe. Unusually, the emblem is different on each side of the flag. On one side is the coat of arms which is a yellow star with a green wreath amd the words Republica Del Paraguay while on the other side is the seal of the treasury which is a yellow lion below a red cap of liberty and the words Paz y Justicia.

The capital of Paraguay is Asuncion.

Paraguay is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 and under 75 must vote.

The currency in Paraguay is the guarani.

Spanish and Guarani are the official languages.

Hear the National Anthem


These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Paraguayan National Anthem called Paraguays, Republic or Death. It was adopted in 1934 with the current music but had been used since 1846.

If anthem fails to play click here

For three centuries a reign oppressed the unhappy peoples of America,
But one day, their anger aroused, they said: “An end to this!” and broke the reign.
Our forefathers, fighting magnificently, displayed their martial glory,
And when the august diadem was shattered, they raised the triumphal cap of liberty.

CHORUS:
Paraguayans, Republic or death! It was our strength that gave us our final liberty.
Neither tyrants nor slaves can continue, where unity and equality reign, where unity and equality reign.

A new Rome, the Fatherland shall proudly display two leaders of name and valor
Who, rivals, like Romulus and Remus divided government and power.
Long years, during which Phoebus in the clouds saw darken the pearl of the South,
Today a grand hero appears raising up again her glory and virtue…
Chorus

Europe and the world salute her with applause and also acclaim
Invincible bastion of heroism, magnificent Eden of riches.
(But) when discord rumbled all around which fatally devoured other Peoples,
Paraguayans, the sacred ground was covered by an angel with its wings.
Chorus

There are four more verses which we do not have space to show here.

We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Paraguay to provide us with a detailed history of their own country. Check how here.


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The total land area of Paraguay is 397,302 sq kms which is the 8th largest in South America.

Paraguay has lakes, rivers and canals which total 9,450 sq kms.

Paraguay has boundaries with 3 countries

• Argentina 2,531 683 kms
• Brazil 1,371 kms
• Bolivia 753 601 kms

Paraguay has no coastline.

The highest point in Paraguay is Cerro Pero at 842 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of Paraguay is 6.86 million people, making it the 9th largest country in South America by population.

Of this number 3.42 million are females and 3.44 million are males.

A person from Paraguay is called a Paraguayan.

To be a citizen of Paraguay you must be born in Paraguay or one of your parents must be a native-born citizen of Paraquay. You have to live in Paraquay for 3 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in Paraguay, by population are:-

• Asuncion 1,482,200 people
• Ciudad del Este 320,782
• San Lorenzo 227,876
• Capiata 198,553
• Lambare 126,377

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



59.7% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in Paraguay is 16.5 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Paraguay is 4.7 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 15.7 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 22.8 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 28.0 and for males is 27.5. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 22.9.

The elderly dependency ratio is 9.4. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 10.6. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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Paraguay spends 9.8% of its total income on health care.

There are 1.23 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 1.3 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

20.3% of the population are estimated as obese.

100.0% of the urban population and 94.9% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

95.5% of the urban population and 78.4% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer. a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Paraguay releases 3.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 10th highest in South America.

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Paraguay spends 5.0% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 7 in Paraguay. Primary education is for six years until age 13. Secondary education, which is not compulsory can continue till 19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

Generally the school year consists of 2 terms and starts at the end of February and finishes at the end of November. There is usually a weekend break at Easter and a 2 week break in July.

94.3% of females and 95.8% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.

20.8% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 25.5% are unemployed while with males 16.9% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Paraguay is 3.29 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

6.2% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 15 paved airports in Paraguay, which is the 9th highest number in South America.


There are 30 kilometres of railways in Paraguay, the 10th longest in South America.


There are 4,860 kilometres of roads in Paraguay, which means Paraguay is in 10th place for the most kilometres of roads in South America.

There are 3 major national newspapers in Paraguay.

There are 7.41 million mobile phone users.

6% of the people have a fixed landline.



3.01 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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