Paraguay: landmarks, animals & facts for kids

Paraguay is a landlocked country in the heart of South America. It has no coastline and is surrounded by Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. The Paraguay River runs through the middle of the country, and the capital, Asunción, sits on its banks. Asunción, founded in 1537, is one of the oldest cities in South America.

Paraguay is known for the Guaraní language, which most of its people speak, for its lacework and harp music, and for giant rivers that make lots of clean electricity. On the globe you can find the Itaipu Dam, a huge dam on the Paraná River that Paraguay shares with Brazil.

Geography and nature

The Paraguay River splits the country in two. East of the river is a green region of hills, farmland and forests where most people live. West of the river is the Gran Chaco, a huge, hot plain of thorny scrub and dry forest with very few people. Jaguars, giant anteaters, capybaras and colourful birds live in Paraguay's wild places. The Paraná River forms part of the southern and eastern border and powers the giant Itaipu and Yacyretá dams.

People, languages and culture

Paraguay has two official languages, Spanish and Guaraní, an Indigenous language. Most Paraguayans speak Guaraní, which is unusual in the Americas, and many mix both languages in daily life. People love tereré, a cold drink of yerba mate herbs shared from one cup with a metal straw. Sopa paraguaya, despite its name, is not a soup but a soft cornbread. Women make ñandutí, a delicate lace shaped like spiderwebs, and the Paraguayan harp is the national instrument.

History in a nutshell

Guaraní peoples lived here long before the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. Jesuit priests later built mission towns where Guaraní people lived and worked; the ruins of two of them are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Paraguay became independent from Spain in 1811. From 1864 to 1870 it fought Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in the War of the Triple Alliance and lost a large part of its population. It fought Bolivia in the Chaco War in the 1930s. Paraguay has had elected governments since 1989.