In the disastrous War of the Triple Alliance (1865-70) - between Paraguay and Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay - Paraguay lost two-thirds of all adult males and much of its territory.

It stagnated economically for the next half century.

In the Chaco War of 1932-35, large, economically important areas were won from Bolivia.

The 35-year military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner was overthrown in 1989, and, despite a marked increase in political infighting in recent years, relatively free and regular presidential elections have been held since then.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 6,669,086 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 37.2% (male 1,262,408/female 1,220,809) 15-64 years: 57.7% (male 1,933,559/female 1,915,033) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 155,660/female 181,617) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 21.6 years male: 21.3 years female: 21.8 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 2.416% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 28.77 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 4.54 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: -0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.034 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.857 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 26.45 deaths/1,000 live births male: 30.73 deaths/1,000 live births female: 21.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 75.34 years male: 72.78 years female: 78.02 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 3.84 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.5% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 15,000 (1999 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 600 (2003 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Paraguayan(s) adjective: Paraguayan

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Ethnic groups: mestizo (mixed Spanish and Amerindian) 95%, other 5%

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Religions: Roman Catholic 89.6%, Protestant 6.2%, other Christian 1.1%, other or unspecified 1.9%, none 1.1% (2002 census)

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Languages: Spanish (official), Guarani (official)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 94% male: 94.9% female: 93% (2003 est.)

Landlocked Paraguay has a market economy marked by a large informal sector. This sector features both reexport of imported consumer goods to neighboring countries, as well as the activities of thousands of microenterprises and urban street vendors. Because of the importance of the informal sector, accurate economic measures are difficult to obtain. A large percentage of the population derives its living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence basis. On a per capita basis, real income has stagnated at 1980 levels. Most observers attribute Paraguay's poor economic performance to political uncertainty, corruption, lack of progress on structural reform, substantial internal and external debt, and deficient infrastructure. Aided by a firmer exchange rate and perhaps a greater confidence in the economic policy of the DUARTE FRUTOS administration, the economy rebounded between 2003 and 2006, posting modest growth each year.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $31.26 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $7.754 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2006 est.) GDP - per capita (PPP): $4,800 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 22.4% industry: 18.4% services: 59.2% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 2.742 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 45% industry: NA% services: NA%

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Unemployment rate: 9.4% (2005 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 32% (2005 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 0.5% highest 10%: 43.8% (1998)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 56.8 (1999)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 12.5% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 19.3% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $1.773 billion expenditures: $1.733 billion; including capital expenditures of $700 million (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 31.3% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: cotton, sugarcane, soybeans, corn, wheat, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), fruits, vegetables; beef, pork, eggs, milk; timber

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Industries: sugar, cement, textiles, beverages, wood products, steel, metallurgic, electric power

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Industrial production growth rate: 0% (2000 est.)

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Electricity - production: 51.77 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 3.133 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 45.01 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 27,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl

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Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Current account balance: -$300 million (2006 est.)

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Exports: $1.69 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

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Exports - commodities: soybeans, feed, cotton, meat, edible oils, electricity, wood, leather

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Exports - partners: Uruguay 22%, Brazil 17.2%, Russia 11.9%, Argentina 8.8%, Chile 6.9% (2006)

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Imports: $4.5 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: road vehicles, consumer goods, tobacco, petroleum products, electrical machinery

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Imports - partners: China 27%, Brazil 20%, Argentina 13.6%, Japan 8.3%, US 6.4% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.543 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $3.722 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $NA

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Currency (code): guarani (PYG)

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Exchange rates: guarani per US dollar - 5,672.8 (2006), 6,178 (2005), 5,974.6 (2004), 6,424.3 (2003), 5,716.3 (2002)

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Fiscal year: calendar year