Paraguay

Paraguay.gif Spanish Text


Geography:
Geography: Paraguay is a landlocked country, surrounded by Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina, with an area of 400,000 sq km. Asuncion is the capital.The Paraguay river runs north to south and divides the country into two geographical regions; the Region Oriental (Eastern Region) and the Chaco Boreal (Northern Chaco) which comprises the Region Occidental (Western Region). The Chaco makes up two-thirds of the country and forms the northern part of the Grand Chaco, a flat and desert-like region.

History: In the pre-Columbian era the Guarani Indians lived as semi-nomads at the foothills of the Andes, along the coast and the Amazon River. Diego de Solis arrived from Spain in 1524. Asuncion was founded 13 years later becoming the hub of Spanish power. The Guarani Indians fled to the forests. Jesuit missionaries created communal villages called reducciones with the Indians. When the Jesuits lost power in the Vatican the Spanish king took power of the reducciones, forcing the Indians to become slaves.
Paraguay got its independence in 1811 without having to fight a war with Spain. Paraguay has been involved in two major wars, The War of the Triple Alliance in which Paraguay fought Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil who were financed by London. The war was over and almost half the population of Paraguay was killed, mostly of them males. In The Chaco war Paraguay took Bolivia as the enemy over a dispute about sovereignty of the Chaco.

Spanish narration

Geografía:

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Created on August 13, 1999

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