Villaricca

Town in eastern Paraguay, capital of the department of Guairá, 130 km/81 mi southeast of Asunción; population (1992) 27,800. Villaricca is on the main line of the central Paraguayan railway, and also lies on the Pan-American Highway. The chief products of the region include tobacco, oranges, yerba maté (‘Paraguay tea’), sugar, cotton, hides, and wine. There are sugar refineries, sawmills, and flour mills. Industries also include food processing, leather tanning, and the production of textiles and wood products.

German settlers were responsible for establishing the wine industry. The city was founded as Villa Rica del Espíritu Santo on the banks of the Alto Paraná River in 1576, but, as a result of incursions from Brazil, the city was transferred to its present site in 1682.