45 Fun Facts About Paraguay

Which country is, with Paraguay, one of South America's only two landlocked nations?

Bolivia lost its Pacific coast to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879–1884), leaving it and always-inland Paraguay as South America's only landlocked states.

What is the capital and largest city of Paraguay?

Founded as a fort in 1537, it is nicknamed the 'Mother of Cities' because expeditions from it refounded Buenos Aires and other settlements.

The capital was founded on 15 August 1537 as the first capital of which Spanish governorate?

The date is the feast of the Assumption, hence the name; Buenos Aires had been abandoned and was refounded from Asuncion decades later.

What is Paraguay's third most spoken language, used by about 10 percent near the eastern border?

Portuguese is spoken by roughly a tenth of Paraguayans, chiefly the 'Brasiguayos', Brazilian settlers and their descendants who moved into the eastern border departments from the 1970s.

Which religious order ran the 'reductions' that gathered indigenous people into mission towns in Paraguay?

They protected converts from Portuguese slave raiders for about 150 years until Spain expelled the order in 1767.

The ruins of two Jesuit mission towns in Itapua department were listed by UNESCO in which year?

La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue, near Encarnación, were inscribed by UNESCO in 1993 as Paraguay's first World Heritage Site.

Paraguay dates its independence from Spain to 14 May of which year?

Paraguay's revolt against Spanish rule began on the night of 14–15 May 1811 and 14 May is its Independence Day; a formal declaration followed only in 1842 under Carlos Antonio López.

Paraguay's first dictator, who sealed the country off from 1814 to 1840, was nicknamed what?

José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, 'El Supremo', ruled from 1814 until his death in 1840, closing Paraguay's borders to trade and outsiders.

Francia's 1814 decree allowed Spanish-born colonists to marry only whom?

Francia's 1814 decree barred peninsular Spaniards from marrying other whites, allowing them to wed only Blacks, mulattoes or natives, a deliberate blow to the colonial elite.

The 1864–1870 war that devastated Paraguay is known by what name?

The War of the Triple Alliance pitted Paraguay against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay from 1864 to 1870 and is widely counted the deadliest interstate war in Latin American history.

Which Paraguayan leader died at the Battle of Cerro Cora in 1870, refusing to surrender?

He had succeeded his father as president-dictator in 1862 and led a guerrilla campaign after Asuncion fell.

Per a common estimate, how many adult males survived in Paraguay after the 1864–70 war?

The classic estimate holds that only about 28,000 adult men were among roughly 220,000 survivors, from a pre-war population put anywhere between 450,000 and 900,000.

Paraguay fought its northern neighbour in a 1932-1935 war over a region thought to be rich in what?

The 1932–35 war with Bolivia was fought over scrubland believed to hold oil; Paraguay, with about a third of Bolivia's population, won most of the disputed territory.

Alfredo Stroessner ruled Paraguay for how many years before his 1989 overthrow?

Stroessner seized power in a May 1954 coup and ruled for 35 years, re-elected in seven stage-managed polls, until his ouster in February 1989.

Which infamous Nazi fugitive was granted Paraguayan citizenship under Stroessner?

Josef Mengele, the Auschwitz 'Angel of Death', obtained Paraguayan citizenship in 1959 under Stroessner before moving on to Brazil, where he drowned in 1979.

Stroessner's Paraguay took part in which 1970s state-terror campaign run by six South American dictatorships?

Operation Condor, formalized in 1975, saw Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil coordinate the hunt for dissidents; its 'Archives of Terror' were found in Paraguay in 1992.

Fernando Lugo, elected president in 2008 and ending 61 years of one-party rule, had previously been what?

Lugo had been the Roman Catholic bishop of San Pedro, a liberation theologian, before winning in 2008; he was impeached and removed in June 2012 in what supporters called a parliamentary coup.

Which party has dominated Paraguay since 1947 and produced Stroessner, Cartes and Santiago Pena?

The Colorado Party (Asociación Nacional Republicana) has held power almost continuously since 1947, losing only the 2008 presidential race to Fernando Lugo.

What is unusual about Paraguay's national flag?

The obverse bears the national seal and the reverse the Treasury seal; the tricolour was inspired by France.

Paraguay's national drink, terere, is yerba mate prepared how?

Tereré is yerba mate steeped in cold water with ice and often medicinal herbs, sipped through a bombilla from a guampa; National Tereré Day falls on the last Saturday of February.

Paraguay's traditional lace, nanduti, takes its name from the indigenous word for what?

Ñandutí means 'spider web' in Guaraní; the lace's radial, web-like motifs are worked on fabric stretched in a frame, and the town of Itauguá is its home.

Which instrument is most associated with Paraguayan music, from polkas to the languid guarania?

The Paraguayan harp, a diatonic harp of 36 to 40 strings, leads polkas and the guarania, the slow song form José Asunción Flores created in 1925.

The Itaipu Dam, shared with Brazil, sits on which river?

Its name means 'sounding stone' in the indigenous language; ten of its twenty turbines generate at 50 Hz for Paraguay and ten at 60 Hz for Brazil.

Roughly what share of Paraguay's electricity is generated from hydropower?

Virtually all of Paraguay's electricity is hydroelectric, chiefly from the Itaipú and Yacyretá dams; domestic demand is small, so most of its Itaipú share is sold on to Brazil.

The Friendship Bridge links Ciudad del Este with which Brazilian city?

The Friendship Bridge (Puente de la Amistad), opened in 1965, spans the Paraná between Ciudad del Este and Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, a few miles from the Iguazú Falls.

Which natural sweetener comes from a plant native to Paraguay and long used by the Guaraní?

Stevia rebaudiana is native to the Paraguay–Brazil border region, where the Guaraní used its leaves, called ka'a he'ê ('sweet herb'), to sweeten mate for centuries.

The Paraguay River separates the eastern region from which sparsely populated western region?

The Chaco, west of the Paraguay River, covers about 60 percent of the country but holds only a few percent of its people; its far west gets under 500 mm of rain a year.

Which religious community migrated from Canada in the 1920s to build prosperous farming towns in Paraguay's arid west?

Mennonites from Canada founded Menno Colony in the Chaco in 1927, followed by refugees from the Soviet Union at Fernheim (Filadelfia) in 1930; their cooperatives produce much of Paraguay's dairy.

Roughly what share of eastern Paraguay's Atlantic Forest has been cleared since the 1960s?

Eastern Paraguay's Atlantic Forest has shrunk by roughly nine-tenths since the 1960s, cleared for soy and cattle; a 2004 'Zero Deforestation' law slowed but did not stop the loss.

Which Paraguayan goalkeeper became the first known to score a professional hat-trick, in 1999?

Playing for Velez Sarsfield, he scored 8 goals for Paraguay in 74 caps and captained the side at two World Cups.

Paraguay's national football team is nicknamed what?

La Albirroja ('the white and red') takes its name from the team's red-and-white striped shirt; Paraguay's best World Cup run was a quarter-final at South Africa 2010.

The headquarters of CONMEBOL, South American football's governing body, is in which Paraguayan city?

CONMEBOL's headquarters stand in Luque, in the Asunción metropolitan area beside Silvio Pettirossi International Airport, Paraguay's main airport.

Which country borders Paraguay to the south and west?

Argentina wraps around Paraguay's south and west, separated from it by the Paraná, Paraguay and Pilcomayo rivers; Brazil lies to the east and Bolivia to the north-west.

Paraguay is divided into a capital district and how many departments?

Paraguay has 17 departments plus the capital district of Asunción; three of them, Boquerón, Alto Paraguay and Presidente Hayes, cover the entire western Chaco.

Slavery was abolished in Paraguay under the constitution of which year?

Slavery ended in Paraguay with a decree of October 1869 during the Allied occupation, enshrined in the constitution of 1870; Carlos Antonio López's 1842 law had only freed slaves' newborn children.

Which Paraguayan fortress, developed by Carlos Antonio Lopez, anchored the defences on the Paraguay River?

Lopez hired 200 foreign technicians who built telegraphs, railways and the Ybycui foundry that turned out cannons.

In a 2014 global polling index, Paraguay was ranked as what?

Gallup's Positive Experience Index measures daily emotions; Paraguay placed 24th in the 2024 World Happiness Report's progress rankings.

Which Paraguayan indigenous group of the eastern forests suffered massacres under Stroessner?

Seventeen ethnolinguistic groups survive today; the nomadic Mbaya of the west were not pacified until the late 19th century.

What is chipa, eaten across Paraguay and baked in quantity for Holy Week?

Chipa is a ring-shaped cheese bread of manioc starch, cheese and eggs, Paraguay's everyday street snack, baked in large batches for Holy Week.

In which year was Paraguay's capital sacked and its national archives carried off to Rio?

Brazilian troops occupied Asunción on 1 January 1869 and looted the city; the seized national archives were shipped to Rio de Janeiro, where many of the documents are held in Brazil's National Library.

Which Spanish explorer founded Asuncion on 15 August 1537?

Juan de Salazar de Espinosa, a captain from Pedro de Mendoza's Río de la Plata expedition, built the fort of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción on 15 August 1537; Irala later governed from it.

What is the name of the widely spoken mixture of Guarani and Spanish?

Jopara, Guaraní for 'mixture', is the everyday blend of Guaraní grammar with Spanish loanwords that most Paraguayans actually speak, rather than pure Guaraní.

Which new highway, opened in stages from 2022, crosses Paraguay's northern Chaco?

The Bioceanic Corridor's first 275 km, from Carmelo Peralta on the Brazilian border to Loma Plata, opened in February 2022; the route is meant to link Atlantic and Pacific ports via the Chaco.

Which indigenous people's name, one theory says, gave the country its name via its river?

Rival etymologies read the name as Guarani for 'feather crown of waters' or 'river which gives birth to the sea'.

What is the highest point in Paraguay?

Cerro Peró, also called Cerro Tres Kandú, rises to 842 m in Guairá Department and is Paraguay's highest point; the rest of the country is low, rolling or flat.