9781422286449

(Opposite) Iguazú Falls, located at the point where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet, is a popular tourist destination. (Right) Adult and baby capybaras. These aquatic South American mammals are the world’s largest rodents. Adults can weigh 150 pounds (68 kilograms). 1

“An Island Surrounded by Land”

PARAGUAY HAS BEEN described as an island surrounded by land. It is blocked from the sea by its neighbors—Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil—and is more than 400 miles (644 kilometers) from the nearest coast. It is a country of stark contrasts, divided by the Paraguay River into two distinct geo- graphic regions: the Región Oriental in the east, with an area of about 61,700 square miles (159,741 sq km), and the larger Chaco in the west, made up of more than 95,000 square miles (245,955 sq km). Along the border with Brazil, the Región Oriental is bounded by two mountain chains, the Cordillera de Amambay and the Cordillera de Mbaracayú (which are better known internationally by their Brazilian names, the Serra de Amambaí and the Serra de Maracajú, respectively). These low rolling hills rise to an average height of 1,500 feet (458 meters) and are covered with evergreen forest. Tall semi-tropical trees, ferns, and grass-

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