land: 397,300 sq km
water: 9,450 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than California

Land boundaries:
total: 3,995 km
border countries: Argentina 1,880 km, Bolivia 750 km, Brazil 1,365 km

Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)

Climate:
subtropical to temperate; substantial rainfall in the eastern
portions, becoming semiarid in the far west

Terrain:
grassy plains and wooded hills east of Rio Paraguay; Gran Chaco
region west of Rio Paraguay mostly low, marshy plain near the river,
and dry forest and thorny scrub elsewhere

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: junction of Rio Paraguay and Rio Parana 46 m
highest point: Cerro Pero (Cerro Tres Kandu) 842 m

Natural resources:
hydropower, timber, iron ore, manganese, limestone

Land use:
arable land: 7.47%
permanent crops: 0.24%
other: 92.29% (2005)

Irrigated land:
670 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards:
local flooding in southeast (early September to June); poorly
drained plains may become boggy (early October to June)

Environment - current issues:
deforestation; water pollution; inadequate means for waste disposal
pose health risks for many urban residents; loss of wetlands

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
landlocked; lies between Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil; population
concentrated in southern part of country

People Paraguay

Population:
6,506,464 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 37.7% (male 1,245,149/female 1,204,970)
15-64 years: 57.5% (male 1,878,761/female 1,862,266)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 145,899/female 169,419) (2006 est.)

Median age:
total: 21.3 years
male: 21.1 years
female: 21.6 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.45% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
29.1 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
4.49 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infa