Paraguay

How is the land laid out?

Paraguay is shpaed like an S, tilted left. It divides into two, unequal halves, separated by the Paraguay River(1). The eastern half is in turn divided into two. West of the river is the Big Plain(2), covered by scrub or scrubby thorn forest: cattle grazing country. East of the river the land is wetter, usually partially flooded each year, and--where not farmed--treeless grasslands. An escarpment separates the lowland nearer the Paraguay River from the Paraná Plateau nearer the Paraná River.

Other than some dry areas in the northeast the whole nation is drained by the Paraná system.(3) The river proper forms the southeast and south bound of the country before--where the Paraguay joins--turning south. The river has two features of note: Just north of Misiones(4), Argentina, straddling the Brazil(5)/ Paraguay border is the Reservoir of Itaipu; just west of Encarnación(6) the river is divided by Yacyretá Island. The Paraguay receives many tributaries: among them the Verde(7) and the Pilcomayo(8) on the right bank; and the Apa, Jejuí Guazú and Tebicuary on the left.

Who lives there?

More than five million people live here. More than eight in ten speak Guarani. Portuguese speakers--mostly near the Reservoir of Itaipu--are more than one in ten. Spanish is the official language but less than one in 20 learn it from their mother, and it is a distant second to Guarani as a lingua franca.

Almost everyone is Christian, the very large proportion, Roman Catholic. The practices are orthodox, save that unbeatified local elites are venerated.

The only city with over a million metropolitan residents(9) is Asunción(10), the capital. Although founded in the 16th century, most monuments date from no earlier than the second half of the 19th. Its central hill is topped by the La Encarnación(11) Church.

Who was there before?

Around 1500 Guarani speakers were pushing their way toward the Paraguay River from the coast. The Spanish showed up and joined forces with them, hoping to grab the Inca silver from Potosí. The Big Plain nonetheless remained sparsely populated until the 20th century. There one found a miscellany of language groups: Zamucoan, Mataco-Guaicuru and Mascoian. The Guarani abandoned ritual cannibalism and adapted their new rulers' religion early. The remnants of the other groups are disparaged as 'unbaptized.'(12)

north and northwest, from the northwest
east, from the north and the center
east, from the center of the southeast
east, from the southeastern corner, south and northwest, from the southeast, and southwest, from most of the west
southwest, from the southwestern corner
west, from the northwest

Other broad topics

South America

Footnotes

(1) South America's eighth longest.
(2) Gran Chaco in Spanish.
(3) South America's second longest, the world's ninth.
(4) Translates from Sapnish as Mission, in its Christian meaning.
(5) Brasil in modern official usage.
(6) Translates from Spanish as Incarnation, in its Christian meaning.
(7) Translates from Spanish as Green.
(8) Called the Brazo Sur (South Arm) in Argentina.
(9) Nearing two million in 2006.
(10) Translates from Spanish as Assumption, a Roman Catholic Christian term.
(11) Translates from Spanish as the Incarnation, a Christian term.
(12) Baptism is an initiation ritual for Christians.