Paraguay 
Facts
Population: 6,669,086 (July 2007 est.).
Age structure: 0-14 years: 37.2% (male 1,262,408/female 1,220,809)
15-64 years: 57.7% (male 1,933,559/female 1,915,033)
65 years and over: 5.1% (male 155,660/female 181,617) (2007 est.).
Population growth rate: 2.416% (2007 est.).
Birth rate: 28.77 births/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Death rate: 4.54 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Net migration rate: -0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.034 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.857 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2007 est.).
Infant mortality rate: total: 26.45 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 30.73 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 21.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.).
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 75.34 years
male: 72.78 years
female: 78.02 years (2007 est.).
Total fertility rate: 3.84 children born/woman (2007 est.).
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.5% (2003 est.).
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 15,000 (1999 est.).
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 600 (2003 est.).
Nationality: noun: Paraguayan(s)
adjective: Paraguayan.
Ethnic groups: mestizo (mixed Spanish and Amerindian) 95%, other 5%.
Religions: Roman Catholic 89.6%, Protestant 6.2%, other Christian 1.1%, other or unspecified 1.9%, none 1.1% (2002 census).
Languages: Spanish (official), Guarani (official).
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 94%
male: 94.9%
female: 93% (2003 est.).
GDP (purchasing power parity): $31.26 billion (2006 est.).
GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2006 est.).
GDP - per capita (PPP): $4,800 (2006 est.).
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 22.4%
industry: 18.4%
services: 59.2% (2006 est.).
Labor force: 2.742 million (2006 est.).
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 45%
industry: NA%
services: NA%.
Population below poverty line: 32% (2005 est.).
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 43.8% (1998).
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12.5% (2006 est.).
Unemployment rate: 9.4% (2005 est.).
Budget: revenues: $1.773 billion
expenditures: $1.733 billion; including capital expenditures of $700 million (2006 est.).
Agriculture - products: cotton, sugarcane, soybeans, corn, wheat, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), fruits, vegetables; beef, pork, eggs, milk; timber.
Industries: sugar, cement, textiles, beverages, wood products, steel, metallurgic, electric power.
Industrial production growth rate: 0% (2000 est.).
Electricity - production: 51.77 billion kWh (2004).
Electricity - consumption: 3.133 billion kWh (2004).
Electricity - exports: 45.01 billion kWh (2004).
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004).
Exports: $1.69 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.).
Exports - commodities: soybeans, feed, cotton, meat, edible oils, electricity, wood, leather.
Exports - partners: Uruguay 28.4%, Brazil 19.3%, Argentina 6.4%, Russia 6%, China 4.1% (2005).
Imports: $4.5 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.).
Imports - commodities: road vehicles, consumer goods, tobacco, petroleum products, electrical machinery.
Imports - partners: Brazil 27.2%, China 20.5%, Argentina 19.7%, US 5.3%, Switzerland 4.2% (2005).
Debt - external: $3.722 billion (2006 est.).
Economic aid - recipient: $NA.
Currency (code): guarani (PYG).
Exchange rates: guarani per US dollar - 5,672.8 (2006), 6,178 (2005), 5,974.6 (2004), 6,424.3 (2003), 5,716.3 (2002).
Fiscal year: calendar year.
Statistics: C.I.A. World Factbook. Updated: July 20, 2007.
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
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Displaying 1 to 4 of 5 items.
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.
World Press Review - Paraguay's banking disaster.
Americas 
