Paraguay proper, or the country between the Paraguay and the Paranâ, is traversed from north to south by a broad irregular belt of highlands which are known as the Cordillera Amanbaya, Cordillera Urucury, &c., but partake rather of the character of plateaus, and form in fact a continuation and outwork of the great interior plateau of Brazil (Keith Johnston, jun.). The elevation nowhere much exceeds 2200 feet. On the western side these highlands terminate with a more or less sharply-defined edge, the country sloping gradually up to their bases in gentle undulations with open ill-defined valleys; on the eastern side they send out broad spurs enclosing deep-cut valleys, and the whole country retains more of an upland character. The tributaries that flow westward to the Paraguay are consequently to some extent navigable, while those that run eastward to the Paranâ are interrupted by rapids and falls often of a formidable description. Apart from the central highlands there are several plateaus and knots of hills in the west between 25° and 26° 20' S. lat. The plateau on the edge of which Asuncion is built has a relative height of about 200 feet, and skirts the Paraguay for about 25 miles with red sandstone cliffs; to the north of this is the Altos Cordillera, with a relative height of 600 feet. From the Asuncion plateau southwards, near the confluence of the Paraguay and Paranâ, there is a vast stretch of marshy country draining partly into the Ypoa lagoon; and smaller tracts of the same character are found in other parts of the lowlands, especially in the valley of the Paraguay. The country sloping to the Paranâ is nearly covered with dense and well-nigh impenetrable forest, and has been left in possession of the sparsely-scattered native tribes. On the other hand the country sloping to the Paraguay, and comprising the whole of the properly settled districts, is, in keeping with its proximity to the vast plains of the Argentine Republic, grassy and open, though the hills are usually covered with forest, and clumps of trees-·are frequent in the lowlands. Except in the marshy regions already mentioned and along the rivers the soil is dry, porous, and sandy, produced by the weathering of the red sandstone, which is the prevailing formation throughout the country.

The year in Paraguay is divided into two seasons,— “summer” lasting from October to March, and u winter” from April to September. December, January, and February are generally the hottest months, and May, June, J uly, and August the coldest. The most temperate month is April. The mean temperature for the year seems to be about 75° or 76°; for summer 81°, for winter 71°. The rainfall, amounting to 58 inches at Asuncion, is distributed over 84 days,— 75 days being cloudy and 206 bright and clear. In the five years 1877-81 only 50 frosts were observed, and of these 17 fell in August. The wind blows from the south on 118 days, and from the north on 103; while from the east it blows only 44 days, and from the west only 3. Neither north nor south appears to obtain any definite mastery in any month or season. The south wind is dry, cool, fresh, and invigorating, and banishes mosquitoes for a time; the north wind is hot, moist, and relaxing. Violent wind-storms, generally from the south, average sixteen per annum. Goitre and leprosy are the only endemic diseases; but the natives, being underfed, are prone to diarrhoea and dyspepsia.

The fauna of Paraguay proper is practically the same as that of Brazil. Caymans, water-hogs (capinchos), several kinds of deer (Cervuspaludosus the largest), ounces, opossums, armadillos, vampires, the American ostrich, the ibis, the jabiru, various species popularly called partridges, the ρato real or royal duck, the Palamedea cornuta, parrots and parakeets, are among the more notable forms. Insect life is peculiarly abundant; the red stump-like ant-hills are a feature in every landscape, and bees used to be kept in all the mission villages.

As to the mineral resources of Paraguay but little is known—possibly because there is little to know. The gold mines said to have been concealed by the Jesuits may have had no existence; and, though iron was worked by Lopez II. at Ibicuy (70 miles south-east of Asuncion), and native copper, black oxide of manganese, marbles, lime, and salt have been found in greater or less abundance, the real wealth of the country consists rather in the variety and value of its vegetable productions. Its forests yield at least seventy kinds of timber fit for industrial purposes,— some, such as the lapacho and quebracho, of rare excellence and durability, as is shown by the wonderful state of preservation in which the wood-work of early Jesuit churches still remains. Fifteen plants are known to furnish dyes, and eight are sources of fibre—the caraguatay especially being employed in the manufacture of the exquisite nanduty or spiderweb lace of the natives. Fruit trees of many kinds flourish luxuriantly; the cocoa palm often forms regular groves, and the orange tree (reaching a height of 50 feet) is so common and bears so profusely that oranges, like bananas, have a mere nominal value. In the Mate (q.v.), or Paraguayan tea, Paraguay has a commercial plant of great importance, which may be said to be peculiarly its own; and most of the primary crops of the tropics could be cultivated with ease if there were only men and means. Paraguay tobacco is prized in all the La Plata countries, and, as men, women, and children all smoke, there is a large home consumption; but only a small quantity finds its way to Europe, under other names; coffee (though the berry is of excellent quality, if slightly bitter) is even more neglected; sugar is grown only for manufacture into rum and syrups, and loaf-sugar has to be imported from Brazil; and, although the whole population is clothed exclusively in white cotton stuffs, and cotton grows almost spontaneously in the country, English goods burdened by a duty of 40 per cent, keep the market. Wheat, oats, and rice can all be raised in different districts, but the dietary staples of the Paraguayans are still, as when the Spaniards first came, maize and mandioca (the latter the chief ingredient in the excellent chipa or Paraguayan bread), varied it may be with the seeds of the Victoria regia, whose magnificent blossoms are the great feature of several of the lakes and rivers. Cat tie-breed i.ιg was formerly a very important interest in several of the departments, but the stock was nearly all destroyed during the war, and is only being slowly recruited from the Argentine Republic. The total number of horned cattle is estimated at 500,000. Land may be purchased from private owners for from <£160 to £200 per square league of 4500 English acres, but the Government rate amounts to £900 or £1000.

The inhabitants of Paraguay are mainly Guaranis or half-breeds with a strong proportion of Guarani blood. A peaceful, simple people, fond of flowers and fêtes, they displayed during the desolating wars of 1865-70 (as so often before in the time of the Jesuits) indomitable courage in the face of overwhelming odds. Trustworthy figures in regard to the population can hardly be said to exist. A so-called census for 1879 gives a total of 346,048, which is probably not far from the truth. The female births being always in excess of the male, and most of the full-grown men having perished in the wars, the females form about two-thirds of the whole. Of the foreign residents in 1879, about 4000 were Italians, 400 Germans, 400 Spaniards, and 40 English. Formerly, about 1857, divided into twenty-five departments, the country was in 1876 distributed into twenty-three electoral districts, each with a gefe politico, ajuez de paz, and a municipality. Asuncion (j.u), the capital, is also the largest city (40,000 in 1857,16,000 in 1879). Other places of present or historical importance are Villa Rica (12,570 in 1879), often called Villa Pobre, the chief seat of the, tobacco trade, and the easternmost of the larger towns; Villa Pilar or El Pilar (3722), formerly Neembucu, opposite the mouth of the Berιnejo, and the “strangers’ farthest” under Dr Francia’s despotism; San Estanislao (7453); San Pedro (9706), near the Tejui, about 3 leagues from its junction with the Paraguay; Concepcion (10,697), the northernmost of the towns or villages, 200 miles above Asuncion, and the trading centre for the northern maté plantations; Humai ta (3868), 198 miles below the capital, the site of the great earthw'orks by which Lopez stopped the advance of the allies for more than a year; Paraguari (5315), the present terminus of the railway; Jaguaron (3413), 2⅜ leagues from Paraguari, founded in 1536, and the seat of a manufacture of orange-flower essence; Ita (6332), known for its earthenware; Itangua (6948), with brick and tile works; Luque (8878), the provisional capital in 1868; Villa Hayes (Villa Occidental, Nouvelle Bourdeaux), 10 miles above Asuncion, founded in 1854 by Lopez with French settlers.

Paraguay is a constitutional republic. The president and vice-president hold office for four years, and are again eligible after eight years. The legislative bodies are a chamber of deputies (one deputy from each 6000 inhabitants) and a senate (one senator from each territorial division with 8000 inhabitants, and beyond that from every 12,000 inhabitants). There are five Government departments, and a supreme court of three salaried judges. The people are nominally Roman Catholics, but full religious liberty prevails. Crime is comparatively rare, and is rapidly diminishing. Marriage has fallen so completely out of fashion that only 3 per cent, of the births are legitimate. Education is technically compulsory; but the 178 schools were in 1879 attended only by 5862 boys and 920 girls. There is only one public library (3000 vols.) in the country. The army, which, when Lopez II. ascended the throne, numbered 12,000 men, but with a reserve of 46,000, is now reduced to 500 men; every able-bodied citizen is under obligation to serve in case of need. There is but one war-steamer, of 440 tons burden. The only railway is the line (45 miles) from Asuncion to Paraguari, which was begun by Lopez I. in 1859, and surveyed as far as Villa Rica. It was bought for £100,000 by a jcint-stock company in 1877. The double run, occupying twelve hours, is performed four times a week. The general trade of the country has begun to revive: from £131,493 in 1876, the value of the imports rose to £258,000 in 1881, and the exports from £68,577 to £385,700. Among the exports (all duty free) there appeared in 1881—mate, £182,025; dry hides, £23,345; tobacco, £131,730; 20,009,597 cigars, £4802 (about seventeen a penny); 47,917,700 oranges, £9583; and hard woods, £3342. The customs furnish nearly four-fifths of the national revenue (not much more than £100,000 in 1881). Previous to the war there was no national debt. In 1871 and 1872 two foreign loans (nominally £1,000,000 and £2,000,000) were contracted through Messrs Robinson, Fleming, & Company, London, and hypothecated on the public lands of Paraguay, valued at £19,380,000. Apart from the war debt of more than £45,000,000, the official statement for 1882 recognizes a foreign debt of £3,463,000.

History.— In 1528 Sebastian Cabot, following in the footsteps of De Solis, reached Paraguay and built a fort called Santo Espiritu. Asuncion was founded on August 15, 1537, by Juan de Ayolas, and his successor Martinez de lrala determined to make it the capital of the Spanish possessions east of the Andes. From this centre Spanish adventurers pushed east to La Guayra beyond the Parana, and west into the Gran Chaco; and before long vast numbers of the less warlike natives were reduced to serfdom. The name Paraguay was applied not only to the country between Rio Paraguay and Rio Parana, but to the whole Spanish territory, which now comprises parts of Brazil, the republic of Uruguay, and the Argentine provinces of Buenos Ayres, Entre Rios, C'orrientes, Misiones, and part of Santa Fé. It was not till 1620 that Paraguay proper and Rio de la Plata or Buenos Ayres were separated from each other as distinct governments, and they were both dependent on the vice-royalty of Peru till 1776, when Buenos Ayres was erected into a vice-royalty, and Paraguay placed under its jurisdiction. In the history of Paraguay down to the latter part of the 18th century, the interest develops along two main lines, which from time to time get entangled with each other—the struggle between Spaniard and Portuguese for the possession of the border region between the Brazils and the country of the plains, and the formation and defence of a great philanthropic despotism by the Jesuits. The first Christian missions in Paraguay were established by the Franciscans—Armenta, Lebron, Solano (who was afterwards canonized as the apostle of Paraguay), and Bolanos—between 1542 and 1560; but neither they nor the first Jesuit missionaries, Salonio, Field, and Ortega, were allowed to make their enterprise a permanent success. This fell to the lot of the second band of Jesuits, Cataldino, Mazeta, and Lorenzana, who began work in 1605. The methods by which they controlled and disciplined the Guaranis have been described in the article America. The greater number of the Jesuit “reductions” lay outside of the present limits of the republic, in the country south of the Parana, which now forms the two Argentine provinces of Corrientes and Misiones. La Guayra, one of the most celebrated, is in the Brazilian province of Parana. Though they succeeded in establishing a kind of imperium in imperio, and were allowed to drill the natives to the use of arms, the Jesuits never held rule in the government of Paraguay; indeed they had nearly as often to defend themselves from the hostility of the governor and bishop at Asuncion as from the actual invasions of the Paulistas or Portuguese settlers of Sâo Paulo. It was only by the powerful assistance of Zabala, governor of Buenos Ayres that the Anti-Jesuit and quasi-national party which had been formed under Antequera was crushed in 1735. In 1750 Ferdinand VI. of Spain ceded to the Portuguese, in exchange for the fortified village of Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay), both the district of La Guayra and a territory of some 20,000 square miles to the east of the Uruguay. Seven of their reductions being included in this area, the Jesuits determined to resist the transference, and it was only after several engagements that they were defeated by the combined forces of Spain and Portugal. The treaty which they thus opposed was revoked by Spain in 1761, but the missions never recovered their prosperity, and the Jesuits were finally expelled the country in 1767. In 1811 Paraguay declared itself independent of Spain; by 1814 it was a despotism in the hands of Dr Francia (q.υ. ). On Francia’s death in 1840, the chief power passed to his nephew Carlos Antonio Lopez (q.v.), and he was in 1862 succeeded by his son Francisco Solano Lopez, whose ambitious schemes of conquest resulted in the almost total extinction of Paraguayan nationality. The three allies, Uruguay, Brazil, and the Argentine Republic, which united against him, bound themselves by the treaty of 1865 to respect and guarantee for five years the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Paraguay, and at the close of the war in 1870 a new constitution was established, and a president, Jovellanos, appointed under their protection. Reduced to utter helplessness, the country owes its continued existence to the jealousy and balance of power existing between its neighbours. By a separate treaty with Brazil in 1872 it undertook to pay the cost of the war—£40,000,000 to Brazil, £7,000,000 to the Argentine Republic, and £200,000 to Uruguay, or more than £136 per head of the population. An attempt made in 1873 by Messrs Robinson and Fleming to establish an English colony of so-called Lincolnshire farmers ended in disaster. Somewhat better success has as yet attended the German colony of San Bernardino on Lake Ipacanay (414 colonists in 1879). The Brazilian army of occupation was withdrawn only in 1876.

Of older woi ’ ks on Paraguay the most important are Azara’s Voyages dans V A mérique Méridionale, Paris, 1809; and Charlevoix, Histoire, already referred to. As commissioner for the settlement (In 1781) of the frontier between Spanish and Portuguese territory, Azara enjoyed exceptional opportunities of information. Lozano’s Hist, de la Conquista del Paraguay (used in MS. by Azara) was first printed at Buenos Ayres, 1873-74. Ulrich Schmidt (often, even in editions of his work, called Schmidel or Schmidels), a German adventurer, left a nan ative of the first Spanish expeditions, which was published at Frankfort in 1563. Like much else of the older literature it is included in Pedro de Angelis, Coleccion de docum. hist, del Rio de la Plata, 1835, <fcc , and in De Bry’s similar collection, as well as in Barcia’s Historiadores. A systematic narιative of events in the Spanish period is given in Gregorio Funes, Ensayo de la hist, civil del Paraguay, Buenos Aires, y Tucuman, 3 vols., Buenos Aires, 1816; Washburn’s History of Paraguay, Boston, 1871, deals with later times. See also Dobrizhoffer, Hist, de Abiponibus∖ Page, La Plata, &c., New York. 1867; Mansfield, Paraguay, *c., London, 1856; Burton, Letters from the Battlefields of Paraguay, 1870; Mulhall, Handbook of the River Plate Republics, 1875; Mrs Mulhall, Between the Amazon and Andes, 1881; E. F. Knight, Cruise of the Falcon, 1883.