Paraguay Departments (original) (raw)

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Updates:

Update 3 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes, the successor to FIPS PUB 10-4, was issued on 2011-02-28. It changes the status of Asunci�n from department to capital district.

I updated the 2002 population column to the latest figures from the DGEEC (Paraguay Statistics) website, presumably corrected. Thanks to Sorin Cosoveanu for collecting those numbers. I also added the postal code column to the main table.

The capital of San Pedro is familiarly called San Pedro. Its full name is sometimes spelled San Pedro del Ycuamandiy� and sometimes San Pedro del Ycuamandyy�, and Spanish Wikipedia (retrieved 2009-09-12) calls it San Pedro del Ykuamandyju, but the first version appears to be more standard. The capital of Presidente Hayes, by the way, has been moved back to Villa Hayes.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Paraguay, the draft standard showed nineteen departments and one city. The final standard shows seventeen departments and one city. The departments of Chaco and Nueva Asunci�n had been dropped. Change Notice 1 to FIPS PUB 10-4, dated December 1, 1998, shows the same change.

Country overview:

Short name PARAGUAY
ISO code PY
FIPS code PA
Language Spanish (es)
Time zone -4~
Capital Asunci�n

The Gran Chaco was disputed between Paraguay and Bolivia for many years. Until 1932, it was divided along a line roughly from the split of the Pilcomayo River to Fuerte Olimpo. Then oil was discovered, and the Chaco War (1932-1935) broke out. In 1938-07, with the signing of a peace treaty, Paraguay expanded to its present limits.

Other names of country:

  1. Danish: Paraguay
  2. Dutch: Paraguay, Republiek Paraguay (formal)
  3. English: Republic of Paraguay (formal)
  4. Finnish: Paraguay
  5. French: Paraguay m
  6. German: Paraguay n
  7. Icelandic: Paragv�
  8. Italian: Paraguay m
  9. Norwegian: Paraguay, Republikken Paraguay (formal)
  10. Portuguese: Paraguai, Rep�blica f do Paraguai m (formal)
  11. Russian: Республика Парагвай (formal)
  12. Spanish: Paraguay, Rep�blica f del Paraguay m (formal)
  13. Swedish: Paraguay
  14. Turkish: Paraguay Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name:

Theory 1: Guaran� para: river + guaso: big; theory 2: Paragua (chief's name) + y: river

Primary subdivisions:

Paraguay is divided into seventeen departamentos (departments) and one distrito capital (capital district).

Department HASC ISO FIPS Post Population Area(km.�) Area(mi.�) Capital
Alto Paraguay PY.AG 16 PA23 90-92 11,587 82,349 31,795 Fuerte Olimpo
Alto Paran� PY.AA 10 PA01 70-77 558,672 14,895 5,751 Ciudad del Este
Amambay PY.AM 13 PA02 85-86 114,917 12,933 4,993 Pedro Juan Caballero
Asunci�n PY.AS ASU PA22 11-19 512,112 117 45 Asunci�n
Boquer�n PY.BQ 19 PA24 93-95 41,106 91,669 35,394 Filadelfia
Caaguaz� PY.CG 5 PA04 33-39 435,357 11,474 4,430 Coronel Oviedo
Caazap� PY.CZ 6 PA05 56-59 139,517 9,496 3,666 Caazap�
Canindey� PY.CY 14 PA19 78-79 140,137 14,667 5,663 Salto del Guair�
Central PY.CE 11 PA06 20-27 1,362,893 2,465 952 Aregu�
Concepci�n PY.CN 1 PA07 87-89 179,450 18,051 6,970 Concepci�n
Cordillera PY.CR 3 PA08 30-32 233,854 4,948 1,910 Caacup�
Guair� PY.GU 4 PA10 50-55 178,650 3,846 1,485 Villarrica
Itap�a PY.IT 7 PA11 60-69 453,692 16,525 6,380 Encarnaci�n
Misiones PY.MI 8 PA12 47-49 101,783 9,556 3,690 San Juan Bautista (de las Misiones)
�eembuc� PY.NE 12 PA13 28-29 76,348 12,147 4,690 Pilar
Paraguar� PY.PG 9 PA15 40-46 221,932 8,705 3,361 Paraguar�
Presidente Hayes PY.PH 15 PA16 96-99 82,493 72,907 28,150 Villa Hayes
San Pedro PY.SP 2 PA17 80-84 318,698 20,002 7,723 San Pedro (del Ycuamandiy�)
18 divisions 5,163,198 406,752 157,048
Department: except for Asunci�n, which is a capital district. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO standard 3166-2, issued December 15, 1998. For full identification in a globalcontext, prefix "PY-" to the code (ex: PY-11 represents Central). Within Paraguay, the departments arereferred to by numbers (usually expressed as Roman numerals or ordinals) which are the same astheir ISO codes, except that Boquer�n is number 17. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4, a U.S. government standard. Post: Paraguay uses four-digit postal codes. The first two digits usually indicate the department. Population: 2002-08-28 census.

Note: In the book "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries", I used the spelling Canendiy�. The Paraguayan legislature initially enacted that spelling when the department was created, but later found it to be in error and changed it to Canindey�.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Paraguay page.

The Paraguay River divides Paraguay into two provincias (provinces), named Occidente and Oriente (West and East, respectively). The provinces are further divided into the departments listed above. The only departments in Occidente are Alto Paraguay, Boquer�n, Chaco, Nueva Asunci�n, and Presidente Hayes. The departments are subdivided into distritos or partidos, which are subdivided into compa��as and municipios.

Territorial extent:

The UN LOCODE page for Paraguay lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names:

  1. Alto Paraguay, Alto Paran�: Spanish alto: high, along the upper course of the Paraguay (respectively, Paran�) River in Paraguay
  2. Asunci�n: Originally Spanish Nuestra Se�ora de la Asunci�n: Our Lady of the Assumption. Founded on 1536-08-15, Assumption Day
  3. Chaco: from Guaran� chako: hunting ground
  4. Misiones: = Missions, for Jesuit missions to the natives
  5. �eembuc�: local word for endless
  6. Nueva Asunci�n: Spanish nueva: new, named after the capital Asunci�n
  7. Presidente Hayes: named after U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes in gratitude for his favorable decision in arbitration of a border conflict

Change history:

  1. 1906: The first law on territorial division of the republic (1906) divided the country into two secciones (sections): Oriental and Occidental. Oriental was subdivided into twelve departments and a federal district, Occidental into military commandancies (source [1]).
  2. 1935: The division of Paraguay at the end of the Chaco War was:
Department No. Population Area(km.�) Capital Approximate equivalent
Caazap� 6 74,267 10,790 Caazap� Caazap�
Caraguatay 3 146,479 5,625 Caraguatay Cordillera
Concepci�n 1 43,953 32,569 Concepci�n Concepci�n; Amambay (part)
Encarnaci�n 7 71,685 27,363 Encarnaci�n Itap�a
Federal District 154,923 632 Asunci�n Asunci�n
Paraguar� 10 88,769 2,836 Paraguar� Paraguar� (part)
Pilar 12 31,144 8,632 Pilar �eembuc� (part)
Quyyndy 9 48,139 6,768 Quyyndy Paraguar� (part)
Regi�n Occidental 45,860 230,000 Villa Hayes Boquer�n, Olimpo, Presidente Hayes
San Ignacio 8 50,351 7,648 San Ignacio Misiones
San Pedro 2 35,907 35,633 San Pedro San Pedro; Amambay, Caaguaz�, Alto Paran� (parts)
Villarrica 4 46,740 1,958 Villarrica Guair�
Villeta 11 57,341 4,496 Villeta Central; �eembuc� (part)
Yh� 5 55,783 14,882 Yh� Caaguaz�, Alto Paran� (parts)
14 departments 951,341 389,832
Population: 1936 incomplete census results (include some duplicate counts) Approximate equivalent: departments covering this area after the reorganization
  1. 1945-07-10: Occidental was reorganized into three departments: Presidente Hayes, Boquer�n, and Olimpo. By Decree No. 9,848, Amambay department was split from San Pedro. The name of Caraguatay was changed to Cordillera. Caaguaz� department was created by annexing part of San Pedro to Yh�. The name of San Ignacio was changed to Misiones, and its capital moved from San Ignacio to San Juan Bautista. The name of Encarnaci�n was changed to Itap�a. Quyyndy department merged with Paraguar�. Alto Paran� department was created from parts of San Pedro and Encarnaci�n. The resulting division consisted of the sixteen departments of Alto Paran� (capital Hernandarias), Amambay (Pedro Juan Caballero), Boquer�n (Mariscal Estigarribia), Caaguaz� (Coronel Oviedo), Caazap� (Caazap�), Central (Asunci�n), Concepci�n (Concepci�n), Cordillera (Caacup�), Guair� (Villarrica), Itap�a (Encarnaci�n), Misiones (San Juan Bautista), �eembuc� (Pilar), Olimpo (Fuerte Olimpo), Paraguar� (Paraguar�), Presidente Hayes (Villa Hayes), and San Pedro (San Pedro), and the capital district, Distrito Capital.
  2. 1973-12-07: Law No. 426 divided the country into 19 departments, of which fourteen were in Oriental region and five in Occidental. The latter were Alto Paraguay (capital Fuerte Olimpo), Boquer�n (Doctor Pedro P. Pe�a), Chaco (Mayor Pablo Lagerenza), Nueva Asunci�n (General Eugenio A. Garay), and Presidente Hayes (Villa Hayes) in the Occidental region. Occidental was released from military control. Canendiy� department was formed from parts of Alto Paran� and Caaguaz�. Some other borders were changed. Capital of Alto Paran� moved from Hernandarias (alternate name Tacurupuc�) to Puerto Presidente Stroessner.
  3. The name of Canendiy� was later changed to Canindey�, to correct a toponymic error.
  4. ~1988: Capital of Presidente Hayes moved from Villa Hayes to Pozo Colorado.
  5. 1989-08-11: Name of capital of Alto Paran� department changed from Puerto Presidente Stroessner to Ciudad del Este.
  6. 1992-11-06: Law No. 71 merged Nueva Asunci�n department with Boquer�n, and Chaco with Alto Paraguay, leaving Occidental with the same territorial divisions as in 1945. [My other sources indicate that the boundaries of the three new departments were significantly different from the former configuration.] Capital of Boquer�n department moved from Doctor Pedro P. Pe�a to Filadelfia.
  7. 1993-07-02: By law No. 201, Aregu� became capital of Central department. The department was administered from Asunci�n before that date, although some older sources list Limpio and Ypacara� as the capital of Central.
  8. 2001-06-06: Capital of Presidente Hayes moved back to Villa Hayes from Pozo Colorado, by Law No. 1,716.

Other names of subdivisions:

  1. Asunci�n: Assomption (French-variant); Assun��o (Portuguese); Distrito Capital, Distrito Federal (variant)
  2. Canindey�: Canendiy� (frequent mistake, found even in some official Paraguayan sources)
  3. Cordillera: Caraguatay (obsolete); Las Cordilleras, La Cordillera (variant)
  4. Guair�: Villarrica (obsolete)
  5. Itap�a: Encarnaci�n (obsolete); Itapua, Itapu� (variant)
  6. Misiones: Las Misiones (variant); San Ignacio (obsolete)
  7. �eembuc�: Neembuc� (variant)
  8. Nueva Asunci�n: Nova Assun��o (Portuguese)

Population history:

Department 1950-10-28 1962-10-14 1972-07-09 1982-07-11 1992-08-26 2002-08-28
Alto Paraguay 2,705 3,854 5,366 9,021 12,156 11,587
Alto Paran� 9,531 24,067 88,607 199,644 406,584 558,672
Amambay 18,160 34,505 65,111 68,395 99,860 114,917
Asunci�n 206,634 288,882 388,958 454,881 500,938 512,112
Boquer�n 28,082 40,405 26,190 14,790 29,060 41,106
Caaguaz� 71,699 125,138 210,858 299,437 386,412 435,357
Caazap� 73,051 92,401 103,139 109,452 129,352 139,517
Canindey� 66,409 103,785 140,137
Central 167,805 229,073 310,390 497,388 866,856 1,362,893
Concepci�n 62,326 85,690 108,130 133,977 167,289 179,450
Cordillera 145,232 188,313 194,218 194,011 198,701 233,854
Guair� 90,308 114,949 124,799 143,510 161,991 178,650
Itap�a 111,424 149,821 201,411 262,680 377,536 453,692
Misiones 43,449 59,441 69,246 77,475 89,018 101,783
�eembuc� 50,861 57,878 73,098 70,338 69,770 76,348
Paraguar� 159,161 203,012 211,977 204,399 208,527 221,932
Presidente Hayes 23,490 29,870 38,439 33,021 64,417 82,493
San Pedro 64,534 91,804 138,018 191,002 280,336 318,698
Totals 1,408,400 1,819,103 2,357,955 3,029,830 4,152,588 5,163,198

Note: The 1950 total includes 79,948 people not enumerated by department. (Sources [2], [3], [4]).

Sources:

  1. [1] Departamentos del Paraguay (http://www.paraguaygobierno.gov.py/departaemtnosparaguay.html, dead link, retrieved 2003-07-06), a page on the Paraguayan governmental Website.
  2. [2] 2002 census data retrieved from Direcci�n General de Estad�stica, Encuestas y Censos (DGEEC).
  3. [3] Atlas Censal de Paraguay has all six censuses.
  4. [4] 1992 census data: Spreadsheet download from DGEEC site, retrieved 2009-09-19.