Statistical information Paraguay 1992Paraguay

Map of Paraguay | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year:  | More stats

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Paraguay in the World

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Paraguay - Introduction 1992
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Background: In the disastrous War of the Triple Alliance (1865-70) Paraguay lost two-thirds of all adult males and much of its territory. It stagnated economically for the next half century. In the Chaco War of 1932-35 large economically important areas were won from Bolivia. The 35-year military dictatorship of Alfredo STROESSNER was overthrown in 1989 and relatively free and regular presidential elections have been held since then.


Paraguay - Geography 1992
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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference

Area
Total: 406,750 km²
Land: 397,300 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than California

Land boundaries:
3,920 km total; Argentina 1,880 km, Bolivia 750 km,
Brazil 1,290 km


Coastline: none - landlocked

Maritime claims: none - landlocked
Disputes:
short section of the boundary with Brazil (just west of Guaira
Falls on the Rio Parana) has not been determined


Climate: varies from temperate in east to semiarid in far west

Terrain: grassy plains and wooded hills east of Rio Paraguay; Gran Chaco region west of Rio Paraguay mostly low, marshy plain near the river, and dry forest and thorny scrub elsewhere

Elevation

Natural resources: iron ore, manganese, limestone, hydropower, timber
Land use

Land use: arable land: 20%; permanent crops: 1%; meadows and pastures 39%; forest and woodland 35%; other 5%; includes irrigated NEGL%

Irrigated land

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


Paraguay - People 1992
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Population: 4,929,446 (July 1992), growth rate 2.9% (1992)

Nationality: noun - Paraguayan(s; adjective - Paraguayan

Ethnic groups: mestizo (Spanish and Indian) 95%, white and Indian 5%

Languages: Spanish (official) and Guarani

Religions: Roman Catholic 90%; Mennonite and other Protestant denominations

Demographic profile
Age structure

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate

Birth rate: 33 births/1000 population (1992)

Death rate: 5 deaths/1000 population (1992)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1000 population (1992)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: local flooding in southeast (early September to June); poorly drained plains may become boggy (early October to June)
Current issues note: landlocked; buffer between Argentina and Brazil

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 28 deaths/1000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth: 71 years male, 74 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate: 4.4 children born/woman (1992)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: 90% (male 92%, female 88%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


Paraguay - Government 1992
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Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Paraguay

Government type: republic

Capital: Asuncion

Administrative divisions:
19 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Alto Paraguay, Alto Parana, Amambay, Boqueron, Caaguazu,
Caazapa, Canindeyu, Central, Chaco, Concepcion, Cordillera, Guaira, Itapua,
Misiones, Neembucu, Nueva Asuncion, Paraguari, Presidente Hayes, San Pedro


Dependent areas

Independence: 14 May 1811 (from Spain)

National holiday: Independence Days, 14-15 May (1811)

Constitution:
25 August 1967; Constituent Assembly rewrote the
Constitution that was promulgated on 20 June 1992


Legal system: based on Argentine codes, Roman law, and French codes; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court of Justice; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18 and up to age 60
President: last held 1 May 1989 (next to be held NA February 1993); results - Gen. RODRIGUEZ 75.8%, Domingo LAINO 19.4%
Chamber of Senators:
last held 1 May 1989 (next to be held by NA May 1993); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (36 total) Colorado
Party 24, PLRA 10, PLR 1, PRF 1

Chamber of Deputies:
last held on 1 May 1989 (next to be held by NA May 1994); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (72 total) Colorado
Party 48, PLRA 19, PRF 2, PDC 1, other 2

Communists: Oscar CREYDT faction and Miguel Angel SOLER faction (both illegal); 3,000 to 4,000 (est.) party members and sympathizers in Paraguay, very few are hard core; party beginning to return from exile is small and deeply divided

Executive branch:
president, Council of Ministers (cabinet), Council of
State


Legislative branch:
bicameral Congress (Congreso) consists of an upper chamber or Chamber of Senators (Camara de Senadores) and a lower chamber or
Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)


Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:
AG (observer), CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ITU, LAES, LAIA,
LORCS, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO,
WMO

Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Juan Esteban Aguirre MARTINEZ;
Chancery at 2,400 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008; telephone (202) 483-6,960 through 6,962; there are Paraguayan Consulates General in New
Orleans and New York, and a Consulate in Houston

US:
Ambassador Jon D. GLASSMAN; Embassy at 1776 Avenida Mariscal Lopez,
Asuncion (mailing address is C. P. 402, Asuncion, or APO AA 34,036-0001); telephone 595 (21) 213-715; FAX 595 (21) 213-728


Diplomatic representation

Flag descriptionflag of Paraguay:
three equal, horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue with an emblem centered in the white band; unusual flag in that the emblem is different on each side; the obverse (hoist side at the left) bears the national coat of arms (a yellow five-pointed star within a green wreath capped by the words REPUBLICA DEL PARAGUAY, all within two circles); the reverse (hoist side at the right) bears the seal of the treasury (a yellow lion below a red Cap of Liberty and the words Paz y Justicia (Peace and
Justice) capped by the words REPUBLICA DEL PARAGUAY, all within two circles)


National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


Paraguay - Economy 1992
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Economy overview:
Agriculture, including forestry, accounts for about 25% of
GDP, employs about 45% of the labor force, and provides the bulk of exports.
Paraguay has no known significant mineral or petroleum resources but does have a large hydropower potential. Since 1981 economic performance has declined compared with the boom period of 1976-81, when real GDP grew at an average annual rate of nearly 11%. During the period 1982-86 real GDP fell in three of five years, inflation jumped to an annual rate of 32%, and foreign debt rose. Factors responsible for the erratic behavior of the economy were the completion of the Itaipu hydroelectric dam, bad weather for crops, and weak international commodity prices for agricultural exports. In 1987 the economy experienced a minor recovery because of improved weather conditions and stronger international prices for key agricultural exports.
The recovery continued through 1990, on the strength of bumper crops in 1988-89. In a major step to increase its economic activity in the region,
Paraguay in March 1991 joined the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR), which includes Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. During 1991 the government began to more seriously address its arrearages with international creditors and its domestic fiscal problems. Inflation was cut in third, but the foreign trade deficit widened to more than $1 billion. For the long run, the government must press forward with general market-oriented economic reforms.

GDP: exchange rate conversion - $7.0 billion, per capita $1,460; real growth rate 3.0% (1991 est.)

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving
Gdp composition by sector of origin

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for 25% of GDP and 44% of labor force; cash crops - cotton, sugarcane; other crops - corn, wheat, tobacco, soybeans, cassava, fruits, and vegetables; animal products - beef, pork, eggs, milk; surplus producer of timber; self-sufficient in most foods

Industries: meat packing, oilseed crushing, milling, brewing, textiles, other light consumer goods, cement, construction

Industrial production growth rate:
growth rate 5.9% (1989 est.); accounts for 16% of
GDP


Labor force: 1,418,000 (1991 est.); agriculture, industry and commerce, services, government (1986)
Organized labor: about 2% of labor force
Labor force

Unemployment rate: 14% (1991 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $1.2 billion; expenditures $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $487 million (1991)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $642 million (f.o.b., 1991)
Commodoties: cotton, soybean, timber, vegetable oils, coffee, tung oil, meat products
Partners: EC 37%, Brazil 25%, Argentina 10%, Chile 6%, US 6%

Imports: $1.85 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
Commodoties: capital goods 35%, consumer goods 20%, fuels and lubricants 19%, raw materials 16%, foodstuffs, beverages, and tobacco 10%
Partners: Brazil 30%, EC 20%, US 18%, Argentina 8%, Japan 7%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: guaranies (G) per US$ - 1,447.5 (March 1992), 1,325.2 (1991), 1,229.8 (1990), 1,056.2 (1989), 550.00 (fixed rate 1986-February 1989),


Paraguay - Energy 1992
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Electricity
Production: 5,578,000 kW capacity; 15,447 million kWh produced, 3,219 kWh per capita (1991)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


Paraguay - Communication 1992
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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


Paraguay - Military 1992
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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp:
exchange rate conversion - $84 million, 1.4% of
GDP (1988 est.)


Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


Paraguay - Transportation 1992
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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports:
845 total, 716 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways; 0
with runways over 3,659 m; 3
with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 66
with runways 1,220-2,439 m


Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways: 3,100 km

Merchant marine:
13 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,747 GRT/19,865
DWT; includes 11 cargo, 2 petroleum tanker; note - 1 naval cargo ship is sometimes used commercially

Civil air: 9 major transport aircraft

Ports and terminals


Paraguay - Transnational issues 1992
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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade; important transshipment point for Bolivian cocaine headed for the US and Europe


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