Portal:Paraguay

The Paraguay Portal

Paraguay (Guarani: Paraguái), officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country located in the central region of South America. It borders Bolivia to the northwest and north, Brazil to the northeast and east, and Argentina to the southeast, south, and west. Paraguay has access to the Atlantic Ocean via the Paraná–Paraguay Waterway. The country is governed as a unitary presidential republic composed of a capital district and seventeen departments. Its capital and largest city is Asunción.

The indigenous Guaraní had been living in eastern Paraguay for at least a millennium before the arrival of Spanish conquistadores in 1524. The city of Asunción was founded in 1537 as the first capital of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata within the Spanish Empire. During the 17th century, Paraguay was the center of Jesuit missions, where the natives were converted to Christianity and introduced to European culture. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories in 1767, Paraguay increasingly became a peripheral colony. Following independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Paraguay was ruled by a series of authoritarian governments. This period ended with the disastrous Paraguayan War (1864–1870), during which the country lost half its prewar population and around 25–33% of its territory. In the 20th century, Paraguay faced another major international conflict—the Chaco War (1932–1935) against Bolivia—in which Paraguay prevailed. It subsequently came under a succession of military dictators, culminating in the 35-year regime of Alfredo Stroessner, which lasted until his overthrow in 1989 by an internal military coup. This marked the beginning of Paraguay's current democratic era.

Paraguay is a developing country, ranking 99th in the Human Development Index, with the seventh highest GDP (PPP) per capita in South America. As of 2024, it had one of the fastest growing economies in the Western Hemisphere, driven by beef and soyabean exports, manufacturing, and construction. Paraguay is one of the world's leading exporters of hydroelectricity; the Itaipu Dam on the Paraná River border with Brazil is the third largest hydroelectric dam in the world in terms of produced energy. Paraguay is a founding member of Mercosur, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Lima Group. Additionally, the city of Luque, in metropolitan Asunción, is the seat of the South American Football Confederation.

The majority of Paraguay's 6 million people are mestizo, and Guarani culture remains widely influential; more than 90% of the population speak various dialects of the Guarani language alongside Spanish—the highest rate of fluency in an indigenous language in Latin America. In a 2014 Positive Experience Index based on global polling data, Paraguay ranked as the "world's happiest place", and in 2024 placed 24th in the progress rankings of the World Happiness Report. (Full article...)

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The Revolt of the Comuneros (Spanish: Revolución Comunera) was a series of uprisings by settlers in Paraguay in the Viceroyalty of Peru against the Spanish authorities from 1721 to 1725 and 1730–1735. The underlying cause of the unrest was strong anti-Jesuit feelings among the Paraguayans and dislike for any governor seen as favoring the Jesuits. In the resumption of the revolt in 1730, economic issues came to fore as well. The rebel organization split in its second phase, as the rural poor and the urban elite each formed their own factions with similar grievances against the Jesuits, but incompatible politics. Paraguay had an unusually strong tradition of self-rule; the colonists did not have a tradition of strict obedience to everything the Spanish Crown's governor decreed. This independence helped push the revolt forward.

The beginnings of the revolt were quasi-legal at first. José de Antequera y Castro (1690–1731), a judge for the Real Audiencia of Charcas, was sent to Asunción in 1721 to examine charges of misconduct against pro-Jesuit Governor Diego de los Reyes Balmaseda. Antequera concluded the charges were valid, forced Reyes into exile and later imprisoned him, and declared himself governor by the power of the Audencia in 1722. Antequera also accused the Jesuits of various crimes, demanded that the mission Indians under their care be enslaved and distributed to the citizens of Paraguay, and expelled the Jesuits from their college in Asunción. All these actions had the support of the citizens of Asunción, and governors had been deposed and replaced before without the central government complaining. However, Viceroy of Peru Diego Morcillo, residing in Lima, did not approve of Antequera's action and ordered Reyes' restoration as governor. With the backing of the settlers, Antequera refused, citing the authority of the Audencia as superior to that of the Viceroy. The feud between Antequera and the Viceroyalty continued after Viceroy Morcillo was replaced by the Marquis of Castelfuerte as Viceroy of Peru. Antequera's Paraguayan militia attacked and defeated an allied force of Jesuit mission Indians and Spanish colonial forces during the standoff. The battle tainted the legitimacy of Antequera's claim of governorship, however, and a second force was sent by Castelfuerte against a movement now seen as clearly treasonous. Antequera resigned in 1725 and fled to Charcas, while order was seemingly restored in the province. Antequera was arrested, imprisoned for five years at Lima, and executed. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various Paraguay-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Inauguration of former President Horacio Cartes, 15 August 2013 (from Paraguay)
Image 2Paraguayan Legion soldiers in 1866 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 3Grazing cattle, Paraguay (from History of Paraguay)
Image 4Flag from 1812 to 1826 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 5Estadio Defensores del Chaco (from Paraguay)
Image 6The Battle of Tuyutí, May 1866 (from Paraguay)
Image 7Colonial era crucifix (from History of Paraguay)
Image 8Ruins of Tavarangue reduction (from History of Paraguay)
Image 9Provisional flag, 1812 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 10Allied warships in the port of Asuncion, 1869 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 11Paraguay population density (people per km²) (from Paraguay)
Image 12Monument of Juan de Salazar de Espinosa in Asuncion (from History of Paraguay)
Image 13Guaraní ceramics (from History of Paraguay)
Image 14Asunción, the capital of Paraguay (from History of Paraguay)
Image 15Bernardino Caballero (from History of Paraguay)
Image 16Gran Chaco was the site of the Chaco War (1932–35), in which Bolivia lost most of the disputed territory to Paraguay (from Paraguay)
Image 17Jesuit reduction of Trinidad (from History of Paraguay)
Image 18Sebastian Cabot (from History of Paraguay)
Image 19Paraguay (from History of Paraguay)
Image 20Independence leaders Caballero, Yegros, Francia (from History of Paraguay)
Image 21A gathering in Caacupé (from Paraguay)
Image 22Paraguayan soldiers in Chaco (from History of Paraguay)
Image 23Provisional flag, May–June 1811 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 24José Félix Estigarribia (from History of Paraguay)
Image 25José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguay's first dictator (from Paraguay)
Image 26Lithograph of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, a 19th-century ruler of Paraguay, with a mate and its respective bombilla (from History of Paraguay)
Image 27Palace of Lopez, now the Palace of the President (from History of Paraguay)
Image 28A Payagua chief (from History of Paraguay)
Image 29Domingo Martinez de Irala (from History of Paraguay)
Image 30Belgrano's campaign against Paraguay (from History of Paraguay)
Image 31
Eastern Paraguay (Paraneña)

Western Paraguay (Chaco)
(from Paraguay)
Image 32Cirilo Antonio Rivarola (from History of Paraguay)
Image 33Eduardo Schaerer (from History of Paraguay)
Image 34Territorial disputes between Paraguay and its neighbors, 1864 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 35Carlos Antonio López (from History of Paraguay)
Image 36Paraguay after the war with main battle sites (in yellow). Gran Chaco not included as it was still a disputed territory. (from History of Paraguay)
Image 37The Paraguay Squadron (Harper's Weekly, 16 October 1858) (from History of Paraguay)
Image 38Pedro Juan Caballero demands shared power from governor Velasco on the night of May 14, 1811 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 39Main Catholic Chapel in Concepción, Paraguay (from Paraguay)
Image 40Francisco Solano López during his trip to Europe, 1854 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 41Asunción Cathedral, built in 1845 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 42Itaipu Dam, a binational undertaking run by Brazil and Paraguay at the border between the two countries (from Paraguay)
Image 43Map of Paraguay province around 1600 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 44Development of life expectancy (from Paraguay)
Image 45Political map of the region, 1864 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 46Political map of the region, 1864 (from Paraguay)
Image 47López as a military leader, 1866 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 48Flag from 1842 to 1954 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 49Paraguay 1890 anniversary stamp (from History of Paraguay)
Image 50Provisional flag, 1812 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 51Nacunday National Park, Southern Paraguay (from Paraguay)
Image 52Locations of Jesuit reductions (from History of Paraguay)
Image 53A half-naked Paraguayan soldier on sentry duty at Solano López's headquarters (from History of Paraguay)
Image 54Köppen climate classification (from Paraguay)
Image 55As one of the most important resort towns in Paraguay, San Bernardino, which was founded by German settlers in the 19th century, has one of the highest purchasing power parities in the country. (from Paraguay)
Image 56Ovecha Ragué Festival (from Paraguay)
Image 57Map of Paraguay and surrounding regions, 1756 (from History of Paraguay)
Image 58Chaco war map (from History of Paraguay)
Image 59Railway station in Asunción (from History of Paraguay)
Image 60Francisco Solano López (from Paraguay)
Image 61Collage of images of the Paraguayan War (from History of Paraguay)
Image 62Paraguayan marines at Ancon Marine Base (from Paraguay)
Image 63Flag from 1826 to 1842 (from History of Paraguay)

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