Geography |
Paraguay, located in the centre of South America, is bounded on the north-west and north by Bolivia, on the east by Brazil and on the south and south-west by Argentina. The total area of the country is 406 752 km2.
The Paraguay River divides the country into two distinctive regions, namely, in the west, the Gran Chaco, or Paraguay Occidental, and in the east, Paraguay proper, or Paraguay Oriental. The Gran Chaco is part of an alluvial plain extending into Bolivia on the west, Argentina on the south, and Brazil on the east. Coarse grasses, scrub forests, and salt marshes cover the area.
Paraguay proper consists mainly of the southern extension of the Paraná plateau, generally from 300 to 600 m high. The highest point is San Rafael at 850 m. The land has rolling hills, fertile soil, and thick forests. Even though the country lies only partially within the tropics, the forests are characterised by a large number of tree species along with epiphytes, lianas, ferns and palms. On its western edge the plateau falls off sharply to fertile grassy lowlands along the Paraguay River; in the east it descends gradually toward the Paraná River.
The subtropical climate of Paraguay is warm and humid. At Asunción the average temperatures range from about 17° C in July to about 27° C in January. The Chaco is hotter, with temperatures often reaching 38° C. Annual rainfall averages about 1 100 in the Asunción area, about 800 mm in the Gran Chaco, and some 1 500 mm in the forested eastern regions. Most of the rainfall in the Chaco falls during the summer months.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.