Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. It has a population of around 6.1 million, nearly 2.3 million of whom live in the capital and largest city of Asunción, and its surrounding metro area.
Asunción is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the northwest separate the city from the Occidental Region of Paraguay and from Argentina in the south part of the city. The rest of the city is surrounded by the Central Department.
Óscar Nicanor Duarte Frutos is a Paraguayan lawyer, journalist and politician who served as the 47th President of Paraguay from 2003 to 2008. A member of the Colorado Party, he became the central figure of Paraguayan politics during his presidency.
The National Republican Association – Colorado Party is a conservative political party in Paraguay, founded on 11 September 1887 by Bernardino Caballero. Since 1947, the colorados, as they are known, has been dominant in Paraguayan politics and has controlled the presidency since 1948 –notwithstanding a brief interruption between 2008 and 2013– as well as having a majority in both chambers of Congress and departament governorships.
Areguá is a creative city and the capital of Central Department in Paraguay. It is known for its production of strawberry products, pottery, colonial architecture and historic cobblestone streets.
Tomás Romero Pereira was a Paraguayan architect and politician who served as President of Paraguay from May to August of 1954. He was installed as president by Alfredo Stroessner after the coup of 4 May against President Federico Chaves. Romero Pereira quickly held elections, which fraudulently elected Stroessner president.
Gustavo Eliseo Morínigo Vázquez is a Paraguayan football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current head coach of Brazilian club Remo.
Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez is a Paraguayan politician and laicized Catholic bishop who was President of Paraguay from 2008 to 2012. Previously, he was a Roman Catholic priest and bishop, serving as Bishop of the Diocese of San Pedro from 1994 to 2005. He was elected as president in 2008, an election that ended 61 years of rule by the Colorado Party.
The most pervasive violations of women's rights in Paraguay involve sexual and domestic abuse. On average one woman is murdered every 10 days. Although Paraguay has taken several measures to deal with this problem, including creating special police units for domestic violence victims, lack of adequate laws, as well as conservative attitudes within a male dominated society hinder progress.
The arrival of immigrants of Lebanese origin to Paraguay consisted of many people who have settled in this country, bringing their customs and way of life. Many were the reasons which prompted these people to leave their native Lebanon and migrate to several Latin American countries, with the aim to seek a better quality of life after the World War I and the Second World War. In modern day, the large amount of Lebanese immigrants to Paraguay reside in Ciudad del Este, alongside neighbor city Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil, which has a large population of Lebanese immigrants. Lebanon has an embassy in the city of Asunción, whilst Paraguay has an embassy in the city of Beirut.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Paraguay face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female types of same-sex sexual activity are legal in Paraguay, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for all of the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples. Paraguay remains one of the few conservative countries in South America regarding LGBT rights.
Paraguayan cuisine is the set of dishes and culinary techniques of Paraguay. It has a marked influence of the Guaraní people combined with the Spanish cuisine and other marked influences coming from the immigration received by bordering countries such as Italian cuisine and German cuisine. The city of Asunción is the epicenter of the distinctive gastronomy that extends in current Paraguay and its areas of influence, which is the reason why is considered the mother of the gastronomy of the Río de la Plata. It is worth clarifying that in the Paraguayan society, the exchange of knowledge between mestizos, creoles and cario-guaraní people occurred before the Jesuit missions.
Women in Paraguay face challenges to their rights. Faced by socioeconomic inequalities and gender pay gap, they experienced significant cultural changes since 1990 as a result of constitutional and legal expansions of women's rights and evolving cultural attitudes. The legal and government institutions currently existing in Paraguay were developed in part through the efforts of feminist organizations in the country that held significant awareness-raising campaigns during the 1990s to formalize the guarantees of women's rights. UN Women supports the Paraguayan State in the challenge to extend women's rights, to fight for gender equality, as well as women's empowerment. It also ensures that women's voices are heard and create more opportunities for women.
Carlos Alberto Filizzola Pallarés is a Paraguayan physician, labor unionist and politician who served as mayor of Asunción from 1991 to 1996, being the first one to be democratically elected. He later served four terms as senator, from 2003 to 2011 and again from 2012 to 2023, having been appointed Minister of the Interior in the meantime, under the presidency of Fernando Lugo. He was also the President of the Senate from 2005 to 2006 and the running mate of Domingo Laíno in the 1998 presidential election.
Pedro Efraín Alegre Sasiain is a Paraguayan politician, lawyer, and university professor, who served as president of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party from 2016 to 2023. For ten years he was the most prominent leader of the opposition to the Colorado Party, running unsuccessfully against its candidates in the presidential elections of 2013, 2018 and 2023.
Israel–Paraguay relations refers to the current and historical relationship between Israel and Paraguay. Both countries have full diplomatic relations since the middle of the 20th century, and each has been represented by a full embassy in the other, until 2018.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Paraguay was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Paraguay on March 7, 2020, in a 32-year-old man from Guayaquil, Ecuador, living in San Lorenzo, Central Department. Three days later, on March 10, 2020, a second case was confirmed in a 61-year-old man who traveled from Argentina; the same day three more cases were confirmed. Due to this spike, the government began imposing the first measures to stop the disease from spreading.
Rivas is a surname of Spanish origin, likely derived from riba, an archaic term for the shore of a river. Notable people with the surname include:
Humberto Antonio García Ramírez is a Paraguayan football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of Sol de América.
Diego Alexander Gómez Amarilla is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Paraguay national team.
