Paraguay

pa-ra-gwi, an inland republic of South America. It lies between Argentina and Brazil, and borders on the north with Bolivia. Area, 157,000 square miles, about that of California. The population is reckoned at 630,000, including 100,000 Indians. In fact, the population is a mixture of Spanish, negro, and Indian elements. There are from four hundred to a thousand each of English, French, German, and pure Spanish residents, intent chiefly on ranching or merchandising. The country achieved its independence from Spanish rule in 1811. The present government is modeled on that of the United States. Asuncion is the capital. The Roman Catholic is the national religion. Freedom of worship is permitted to all denominations. A system of free education has been established. Attendance is compulsory. Spanish is the language of the schools. Protestant schools are maintained by private parties. A national university is maintained at Asuncion, with a score of professors and two hundred to three hundred students. The government pays the expenses of a few students abroad to study engineering.

Paraguay is in the La Plata basin. A considerable portion of the country lies in the great South American grazing region. Cattle, horses, mules, sheep, goats, and swine are valued at $100,000,000. Meat, hides, hair, and wool are sold to the merchants of Buenos Ayres. The most important product from a money point of view is yerba mate, or Paraguay tea. The government leases the yerbales or herb lands to companies. They are managed somewhat on the plan of the blueberry barrens of the northeastern United States. The annual export of mate leaves is valued at $700,000. The industry gives employment to a vast number of pickers and curers. Tobacco is an important crop. Fruit growing is an increasing industry. Indian corn, beans, and sugar-cane, potatoes, rice, and peanuts are raised. Bananas, coffee, and oranges are exported. Luscious oranges may be had at the rate of eight for one cent. They are loaded like potatoes by barefooted women. Immense forests yield valuable timber, including the quebracho (ka-bra'cho), which contains one-fourth of its own weight of tanning material.

There are at present no valuable mines, but the country has not been explored thoroughly. There is iron in the south. Veins of copper ore are known to exist. Building marble and valuable clays abound. Wild animals are yet numerous. Alligators lie on the mud flats of the Parana.

Asuncion is the metropolis of the country. It receives about 2,000 calls a year from steamers and sailing vessels. A line of railway from Asuncion runs inland 156 miles. There are 500 miles of telegraph lines connecting with those of Argentina. The capital has telephones and tramways.

See Yerba Mate