Paraguay

Location	Central South America, northeast of Argentina, southwest of Brazil
Geographic coordinates	23 00 S, 58 00 W
Map references	South America
Area	total: 406,752 sq km land: 397,302 sq km water: 9,450 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than California
Land boundaries	total: 3,995 km border countries: Argentina 1,880 km, Bolivia 750 km, Brazil 1,365 km
Coastline	0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)
Climate	subtropical to temperate; substantial rainfall in the eastern portions, becoming semiarid in the far west
Terrain	grassy plains and wooded hills east of Rio Paraguay; Gran Chaco region west of Rio Paraguay mostly low, marshy plain near the river, and dry forest and thorny scrub elsewhere
Elevation extremes	lowest point: junction of Rio Paraguay and Rio Parana 46 m highest point: Cerro Pero 842 m
Natural resources	hydropower, timber, iron ore, manganese, limestone
Land use	arable land: 7.47% permanent crops: 0.24% other: 92.29% (2005)
Irrigated land	670 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	336 cu km (2000)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	total: 0.49 cu km/yr (20%/8%/71%) per capita: 80 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards	local flooding in southeast (early September to June); poorly drained plains may become boggy (early October to June)
Environment - current issues	deforestation; water pollution; inadequate means for waste disposal pose health risks for many urban residents; loss of wetlands
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note	landlocked; lies between Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil; population concentrated in southern part of country