Paraguay 
Facts
Population:
5,734,139 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
38.9% (male 1,133,306; female 1,097,360)
15-64 years:
56.39% (male 1,622,743; female 1,610,659)
65 years and over:
4.71% (male 124,321; female 145,750) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.6% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
30.88 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
4.75 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
-0.09 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 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:
0.85 male(s)/female
total population:
1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
29.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
73.92 years
male:
71.44 years
female:
76.52 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.11 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.11% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
3,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
220 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Paraguayan(s)
adjective:
Paraguayan
Ethnic groups:
mestizo (mixed Spanish and Amerindian) 95%
Religions:
Roman Catholic 90%, Mennonite, and other Protestant
Languages:
Spanish (official), Guarani (official)
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
92.1%
male:
93.5%
female:
90.6% (1995 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $26.2 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
1% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,750 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
28%
industry:
21%
services:
51% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:
36% (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
0.7%
highest 10%:
46.6% (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
8% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
2 million (2000 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 45%
Unemployment rate:
16% (2000 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$1.3 billion
expenditures:
$2 billion, including capital expenditures of $700 million (1999 est.)
Industries:
sugar, cement, textiles, beverages, wood products
Industrial production growth rate:
0% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production:
51.554 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
0.07%
hydro:
99.79%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0.15% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
1.915 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
46.03 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
cotton, sugarcane, soybeans, corn, wheat, tobacco, cassava (yucca), fruits, vegetables; beef, pork, eggs, milk; timber
Exports:
$3.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:
electricity, soybeans, feed, cotton, meat, edible oils
Exports - partners:
Brazil, Argentina, EU
Imports:
$3.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:
road vehicles, consumer goods, tobacco, petroleum products, electrical machinery
Imports - partners:
Brazil, US, Argentina, Uruguay, EU, Hong Kong
Debt - external:
$3 billion (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$NA
Currency:
guarani (PYG)
Currency code:
PYG
Exchange rates:
guarani per US dollar - 3,570.0 (January 2001), 3,486.4 (2000), 3,119.1 (1999), 2,726.5 (1998), 2,177.9 (1997), 2,056.8 (1996); note - since early 1998, the exchange rate has operated as a managed float; prior to that, the exchange rate was determined freely in the market
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
(Independent), Asunción
http://www.abc.com.py/
(Independent), Asunción
http://www.diarionoticias.com.py/
(Independent), Asunción
http://www.ultimahora.com.py/
Paraguay in the News
1 2 
Displaying 1 to 4 of 6 items.
Reflecting a growing shift to the left across Latin America, the April 20 election of Lugo put an end to the rightwing Colorado Party's six-decade-long grip on power.
The two-day Summit of the Americas in Argentina, attended by President Bush earlier this month, ended without a clear agreement on when and how to resume talks on a free trade agreement between the countries of North, Central, and South America.
Chilean President Ricardo Lagos noted that countries in the region have yet to advance fully on integrating economic policies, while Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez used the occasion to urge members to pull back from United States-style free market policies.
Latin American journalists greeted the ambitious reforms to the Mercosur trade bloc that Argentine President Néstor Kirchner proposed to Latin American leaders gathered in Asunción on June 18 with a mixture of hope and skepticism. We review comment from Quito, Asunción, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Caracas, and Tegucigalpa.
Americas 
