An attempt to create an autonomous Christian Indian nation[18] was undertaken by Jesuit missions and settlements in this part of South America in the eighteenth century.

Both wanted to give an international image of Paraguay as "democratic and republican", but in fact, the ruling family had almost total control of all public life in the country, including church and colleges.

[24]: 41–42 Militarily, Carlos Antonio López modernized and expanded industry and the Paraguayan Army and greatly strengthened the strategic defenses of Paraguay by developing the Fortress of Humaitá.

[25] The government hired more than 200 foreign technicians, who installed telegraph lines and railroads to aid the expanding steel, textile, paper and ink, naval construction, weapons and gunpowder industries.

In terms of socio-economic development, the country was dubbed "the most advanced Republic in South America", notably by the British judge and politician Sir Robert Phillimore.

The higher classes, of course, lived more in the European way...On 12 October 1864, despite Paraguayan ultimatums, Brazil (allied with the Argentine Government under General Bartolomé Mitre and the rebellious Uruguayan colorados led by Gen. Venancio Flores) invaded the Republic of Uruguay in order to overthrow the government of that time (which was under the rule of the Blanco Party, an ally of López),[c] thus starting the Paraguayan War.

[d] The Paraguayans, led by the Marshal of the Republic Francisco Solano López, retaliated by attacking Mato Grosso on 15 December 1864 and later declared war against Argentina on 23 March 1865.

The Paraguayans put up a ferocious resistance but ultimately lost in 1870 in the Battle of Cerro Corá, where Marshal Solano López refused to surrender and died in action.

[e] Paraguay lost 25–33% of its territory to Argentina and Brazil, paid an enormous war debt, and sold large amounts of national properties to stabilize its internal budget.

The splits in the Colorado Party in the 1980s, and the prevailing conditions – Stroessner's advanced age, the character of the regime, the economic downturn, and international isolation – were catalysts for anti-regime demonstrations and statements by the opposition prior to the 1988 general elections.

On his sixth attempt to re-enter the country in 1986, Laíno returned with three television crews from the U.S., a former United States ambassador to Paraguay, and a group of Uruguayan and Argentine congressmen.

In this tense atmosphere, the murder of Vice President and long-time Oviedo rival Luis María Argaña on 23 March 1999, led the Chamber of Deputies to impeach Cubas the next day.

[43] Outgoing President Nicanor Duarte Frutos hailed the moment as the first time in the history of the nation that a government had transferred power to opposition forces in a constitutional and peaceful fashion.

Wildlife in Paraguay include marsh deer, monkeys, armadillos, anteaters, otters, wild boars, tapirs, jaguars, ocelots, bats, and the coypu.

These are the departments, with their capitals, population, area and the number of districts: For many years, the country's image was associated with the illicit trade in electronic products, weapons and drugs.

Data from the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) showed that, in 2006, exports related to the triangulation trade (China-Paraguay-Brazil), treated by Brazil – in most cases – as smuggling and embezzlement, represented 22% of the country's GDP.

In 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a ruling urging Paraguay to undertake an investigation into the massive fumigation of agrochemicals and the poisoning of the population.

However, the situation is not improving: "The high level of political corruption, the extreme fragility of institutions, the high level of social vulnerability, the omnipotence of economic interests in political decisions, as well as the location [of the country] in the geographic heart of the Southern Cone and its abundance of natural resources, make Paraguay an attractive target for imperial geopolitical interests," says sociologist Tomás Palau.

[71] The market economy is distinguished by a large informal sector, featuring re-export of imported consumer goods to neighboring countries, as well as the activities of thousands of microenterprises and urban street vendors.

The economy grew rapidly between 2003 and 2013 as growing world demand for commodities combined with high prices and favorable weather to support Paraguay's commodity-based export expansion.

Nearly 8 million hectares were illegally granted, in violation of the agrarian law, to regime supporters during the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner (1954–1989), and the state has done nothing since to identify the beneficiaries of this illicit enrichment.

These owners include generals, businessmen, and politicians, former presidents of the Republic, Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle, and even the ruling Colorado Party.

Economist Luis Rojas says that the most common method is to buy land from small producers: "The peasant is offered a sum of money he has never seen in his life.

[97] The Paraná-Paraguay system is a natural north–south downstream waterway of 1,600 km of a navigable network area, that gives the region direct access to the ocean, therefore, river transport is important and extensive, concentrating the most commercial maritime traffic to the port of Buenos Aires.

Immigrants include Italians, Germans, Spanish, English, Russians, Koreans, Chinese, Arab, Japanese, Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, Brazilians, Argentines, Americans, Bolivians, Venezuelans, Mexicans, Chileans, Taiwanese, Asian people and Uruguayans.

While Guaraní is still widely spoken, Spanish is generally given a preferential treatment in government, business, media and education as one of South America's lingua francas.

[128] Average life expectancy in Paraguay is rather high given its poverty: as of 2006[update], it was 75 years,[133] equivalent to far wealthier Argentina, and the eighth highest in the Americas according to World Health Organization.

Several popular dishes contain manioc, a local staple crop similar to the yuca also known as Cassava root found in the Southwestern United States and Mexico, as well as other indigenous ingredients.

The 1950s and 1960s were the time of the birth of a new generation of Paraguayan novelists and poets such as José Ricardo Mazó, Roque Vallejos, and Nobel Prize nominee Augusto Roa Bastos.

In lower classes, godparents have a special relationship to the family, since they are typically chosen because of their favourable social position, in order to provide extra security for the children.