GOVERNMENT:

President: Santiago Peña Palacios (2023-2028)

Vice-President: Pedro Lorenzo Alliana Rodríguez

Capital: Asuncion

Population: 6.704 million (2021, World Bank)

Area: 406.752 km2

Current Constitution: 20 June 1992

Official Languages: Spanish and Guarani

Independence from Spain: 14 May 1811

PROFILE:

Oficially called the Republic of Paraguay is a country in South America is located in the centre of the continent. It limits with Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. The form of government is Presidentialist as republic participatory and pluralistic. It is exercised by 3 state powers: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The congress consists of two cameras: The Upper House (Senate) and the Lower House (Chamber of Deputies).

The country is divided into two distinct natural regions: the Eastern Region and the Western Region. The territory is crossed in its entirety by numerous waterways that constitute the important hydrographic network of the Plata Basin, in addition to being the centre of the Guaraní Aquifer, considered one of the biggest reserves of sweet water on the planet. The Paraguay and Paraná are the main rivers. Paraguay comprehends 17 departments: Alto Paraguay, Alto Paraná, Amambay, Boquerón, Caaguazú, Caazapá, Canindeyú, Central, Concepción, Guairá, Itapúa, Cordillera, Misiones, Ñeembucú, Paraguarí, Presidente Hayes, San Pedro, and a capital district, Asunción).

Asunción, the capital, offers the profile of a cosmopolitan city with human scale. It presents wide, tree-lined avenues, flowering specimens in all seasons of the year, it has an efficient infrastructure of hotels, rooftops, shopping malls, cinemas and theatres, and countryside diverse experiences due to its unique nature.

Other important cities are: Encarnación, Ciudad del Este, Pedro Juan Caballero and Filadelfia.

CLIMATE:

The Tropic of Capricorn passes through the city of Belén, located in the department of Concepción, determining a torrid zone to the north and a temperate zone to the south.

Paraguay has 2 predominant types of climate:

1. Tropical savannah in the Western Region: one area with dry winter and the other warm semi-arid.

2. Subtropical or temperate, humid predominant in the Eastern Region: without a dry season and with a hot summer.

Average temperatures during summer could reach up to 38° C or 45° C, and an average of 5° C to 10° C during winter.

RELIGION:

The vast majority of the population is Roman Catholic Apostolic Christian. Nevertheless, there is great respect for other religions. The Paraguayan constitution establishes freedom of worship and there are no religious conflicts, nor ideological. The country's own religious festivities are celebrated, such as the day of the Virgin of the Miracles of Caacupé - the spiritual mother Mary and Patron Saint of Paraguay - every December 8. It is celebrated with a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Caacupé

CURRENCY:

The Guaraní (G. or PYG) has been the legal currency of Paraguay since 1943. It is one of the oldest in Latin America, currently 80 years, and is one of the most stable in South America and Mercosur. It never experienced zero suppressions, nor abrupt devaluation, nor was it affected by hyperinflation.

CLIMATE CHANGE:

After signing of the Paris Agreement by Law 5681/16, Paraguay presented its emissions reduction report in order to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, preventing the planet's temperature from exceeding 2° C with respect to the pre-industrial era. The Republic of Paraguay has presented its Nationally Determined Contributions to the Convention and assumes the international commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10% and another 10% if financed.

Paraguay has a Mitigation Strategy since 2017 through a National Climate Change Mitigation Plan, built in a participatory manner through which following action programmes have been identified, among others: comprehensive management of the transportation sector, clean cooking, replacement of stoves with liquefied petroleum gas with induction stoves in urban areas, sustainable use of the Chaco Forests, functional restoration of forest landscapes, waste management and sustainable architecture.

Paraguay has a National Gender Strategy against Climate Change. The objective is to actively and effectively promote the incorporation of the gender perspective in the adaptation, preparation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of public policies on climate change, as well as also in the actions of civil society, in order to achieve the well-being of the population, respecting the needs and interests of men and women. Source: MADES.