Paraguay Facts – 36 Interesting Facts About Paraguay

Facts About Paraguay

Guaraní is a very poetic language and many of its words are like music or akin to sounds of animals and the natural environment. It is classified as an onomatopoeic language. Its second language is Spanish.

It is one of the few nations which triple frontiers, a tri-border along the intersection of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.

It has the distinction of having the first railway line in South America and was constructed by British engineers from 1858-1861.

Dueling is still legal as long as both parties are blood donors.

The country got its independence from Spain in 1811 but was immediately taken over by three dictators in quick succession. The last dictator Francisco López, initiated a bloody war, the War of Triple Alliance which included Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. The nation lost more than half of its male population.

It also lost its Iguassu Falls to Brazil and is counted as one of Brazil’s (and the world’s) top tourist attractions.

It again experienced three decades of dictatorship in the 20 century which ended in 1989 with the ousting of Alfredo Stroessner, who was finally ousted in 1989.

It is one of the two landlocked countries in South America, the other is Bolivia.

It does not have a sea coast but it does have one of the largest navies for any landlocked country with a naval aviation corp., a river defense corps and a coast guard.

Paraguay is an economy with one of the most disparate distribution of its wealth with 80% of the land held by 2.5% of the population and only 161 people controlling 90 percent of the wealth.