Paraguay Hotels

araguay is a landlocked country in South America, northeast of Argentina, with borders with Bolivia and Brazil. The country is rich in natural resources: the world largest drinking water reservoir (Guarani Acquifer) is beneath its soil, the biggest hydroelectric producer -The Itaipú Dam- is in its border with Brasil. It's also a world top 5 exporter of soya bean, as well as a renowned producer of beef. Despite all this, many of its people live in poverty and it's very common to see beggars and vagabonds asking for money in Asuncion's corners. Colonized for 3 centuries by the Spanish, since the 1500s, Paraguay has managed to keep a lot of it indigenous character and identity. Nowadays, the mestizos (Spanish + Amerindian) account for more than 90% of the country's 6 million inhabitants and Guarani is, side by side with Spanish, the country's official language. In the past, Franciscan and Jesuit missions mingled with the Guaranis' dream of Yvy maraë´y, a land without evil, and produced singular societies. The ruins of the Jesuit Missions of La Santisima Trinidad de Parana and Jesus de Tavarangue, UNESCO World Heritage sites, and several villages throughout the country, are witnesses to that peaceful past. But Paraguay also has a history of blood and tears. In the disastrous War of the Triple Alliance (1865-70), waged by the allied forces of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, the country 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, despite a marked increase in political infighting in recent years, democratic governors have been in power since then. National holiday: Independence Day, 15 May (1811) Geography.With an area of about 406.000 sq km, Paraguay is divided between the East and West (Chaco) regions by the Paraguay River. Despite being landlocked, the country is bordered and criss-crossed by navigable rivers.The Tropic of Capricorn also crosses the country from East to West and determines a more tropical climate to the North and subtropical to temperate climate to the South. Economy:Paraguay has been recently ranked by several research studies as the cheapest country in the world, measured through Purchasing Power Parity. Prices, measured in dollars, euros or British pounds are very cheap. Economy - overview :Paraguay has a market economy marked by a large informal sector. The informal sector features both reexport of imported consumer goods to neighboring countries as well as the activities of thousands of microenterprises and urban street vendors. Because of the importance of the informal sector, accurate economic measures are difficult to obtain. A large percentage of the population derives their living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence basis. The formal economy grew by an average of about 3% annually in 1995-97, but GDP declined slightly in 1998, 1999, and 2000. On a per capita basis, real income has stagnated at 1980 levels. Most observers attribute Paraguay's poor economic performance to political uncertainty, corruption, lack of progress on structural reform, substantial internal and foreign debt, and deficient infrastructure.