Part of the Comparative law and justice Wikiversity Project. It is located in central South America and is landlocked between Argentina to its south and Bolivia and Brazil to its north. Paraguay's total landmass is , sq km; it is about the same size as California. In comparison to the world it is the 59th largest country [1]. Small rivers dominate this part of the countries natural features.
This part of the country experiences a subtropical climate. It is humid, with abundant precipitation throughout the year and only moderate seasonal changes in temperature. It has seasons that flood and parch the land. Chaco temperatures are usually high, the averages dropping only slightly in winter. The river is navigable by most boats depending on the season. The population there is 1,, The second largest city is San Lorenzo and it has , inhabitants.
In Paraguay freedom of religion is guaranteed under the constitution, but it recognizes that Catholicism plays a special role in national life. Relations between church and state are very close for example; one of the requirements to become president in Paraguay is that you must be Roman Catholic. One of the things that resulted from this was that the dominant language remained Guarani while the rest of the dominant social institutions and culture remained Hispanic.
Europeans first arrived in the area in the early 16th century and the settlement of Asuncion which is now the capital was founded in This war was between Paraguay and Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. It was devastating to the country because in it Paraguay lost two-thirds of all its adult males. In the Chaco War of , large, economically important areas were won from Bolivia. Included within the borders of Bolivia was the port of Puerto Suarez, which allowed access to the Paraguay River.
During his time Stroessner associated himself with the famous Condor Plan of the other totalitarian governments of South America, which produced thousands of victims. A period of democracy began with the fall of Stroessner. In the first democratic elections were held and in a new national constitution was adopted, which established fundamental liberties not recognized in the previous constitution and also established a democratic system of government which is still being used today.
