Asunción
Capital and chief port of Paraguay, situated on the east bank of the Paraguay River, near its confluence with the River Pilcomayo; population (2002 est) 513,400 (metropolitan area 1,620,500); there are textile, footwear, furniture, tobacco, and food-processing industries. The climate is subtropical, and cattle are raised in the surrounding area; maize, cotton, sugar, fruit, and tobacco are grown, and meat, timber, and cotton are the leading exports.
History
Founded by the Spanish in 1537, Asunción was the first Spanish settlement in the La Plata region, and centre of the Spanish in South America until the refounding of Buenos Aires in 1580. It declined in importance in the 17th century.
Features 19th-century Pantheon of Heroes; Hotel Guaraní, designed by Oscar Niemayer; National University, founded in 1890; Catholic University, founded in 1960. The city has a large shantytown population located on the flood-prone river bluffs on the Paraguay River. |
| The city is served by an international airport and is linked by river transport and by rail to Buenos Aires. |
