Concepción

Town, chief river port, and main trading centre of north-central Paraguay, and capital of the department of the same name; population (1996) 49,978. Concepción is located on the east bank of the River Paraguay, 200 km/124 mi north of Asunción. Its export commodities include cattle, hides, timber, yerba maté (‘Paraguay tea’), and quebracho extract (tree bark used in tanning). Extensive trade is conducted here with Brazil, both by river and by the road to Pedro Juan Caballero on the Brazilian border, from where a railway line leads to São Paulo and the Atlantic Ocean.