Nueva Italia | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Nueva Italia | |
| Coordinates: 25°37′12″S57°30′0″W / 25.62000°S 57.50000°W | |
| Country | Paraguay |
| Department | Central |
| Elevation | 130 m (430 ft) |
| Population (2008) | |
• Total | 3 367 |
| Climate | Cfa |
Nueva Italia (Spanish for New Italy) is a town in the Central Department of Paraguay.
Nueva Italia was created in 1904 by the Paraguay government in order to establish some colonists from Italy and their 18 families in a farming area 40 km south of the capital Asunción. In addition to Italians, a community of German and Ukrainian emigrants also moved to Nueva Italia.[ citation needed ]
The first manager-administrator of this Colonia Nueva Italia (as was officially named) was the Italian count Enrico Statella. [1] After WW1 many Italians returned to Italy or moved to the capital Asuncion, but the settlement -after an initial crisis- survived & remained as a small agricultural center. Mura, [2] Musto and Carolini were some of the Italian families that remained and perfectly integrated with the local Paraguayan population.
In the 1930s the colony was a success and grew in importance as a farming city for the Greater Asunción area [3]
In 1956 was created the Distrito Nueva Italia, [4] that in the 2010s have nearly 20,000 inhabitants.
The main activities are farming and husbandry. [5] Recently is being developed some tourism, thanks to new roads toward the capital and other surroundings [6]
The city is located to the north of the "Distrito Nueva Italia" and has a perfect square shape, because of the original urban planning promoted by count Enrico Statella. [7]
