Paraguay, know it at your taste.

PARAGUAY: A landlocked country located in the heart of SOUTH AMERICA, between ARGENTINE, BRAZIL AND BOLIVIA, where a GREAT HEART beats inside of each citizen.

OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Paraguay

SURFACE: 406,752 Km2

POPULATION: 5,7 millions inhabitants

CAPITAL OF THE REPÚBLIC: Asunción (550,000 inhabitants)

GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISION: 2 Regions (Eastern and Western or Chaco), separated by the Paraguay river.

POLITICAL DIVISION: 17 Departments with departmental capitals.

LANGUAGES: Spanish and Guarani, a native language, which at present is compulsory at all educational institutions.

RELIGION: approximately 80% of the population belongs to the Catholic religion. There is freedom of religion.

CURRENCY: The Guarani (Gs) . There are coins of lower values and bills from 1,000. Euros, Dollars and currencies from neighbouring countries can be easily changed.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE PLACES: Official currency exchange houses and Banks.

LABOUR HOURS: In general, shops open between 08:00 and 12:00 and between 15:00 and 19:00. This schedula can be extended and many shops do not close at noon (siesta time). Banks and Public Institutions are opened to the public from 08:00 to 13:00, although some of them open between 07:00 and 15:00.

IMMIGRATIONS: People from all over the world have immigrated to Paraguay. The greatest number or represented countries is located in the southern area of the country, specifically in the Department of Itapúa. There are groups of aliens living together in colonies, among which there are mainly Brazilians, Germans, Japanese and Swiss people. Distributed throughout the nation, Paraguay has a great number of Argentineans, Uruguayans, Bolivians, Chinese, Coreans, Arabs and people from other citizenships. ELECTRIC TENSION: 220 V / 50 Hz.

ACCESS TO PARAGUAY: By plane: through the "SILVIO PETTIROSSI" airport, located in the city of Luque, 18 Km. away from Asunción; and through the "GUARANI" airport, located 28 Km. away from Ciudad del Este. By car: through different borders with Argentine (Encarnación, Alberdi, Puerto Falcón, etc.), with Brazil (Ciudad del Este, Saltos del Guairá, Pedro Juan Caballero, etc.) and with Bolivia ( Puesto Guaraní).

DOCUMENTS: We suggest you to call the closest diplomatic agency offices to your house.

TRANSPORTATION MEANS: The most important transportation mean in the nation, both for passengers and cargo, is the terrestrial mean. The river way is also used, in particular for cargo transportation. Transportation through roads is sort of slow. There is a wide network of roads, however, only a part of it is paved.