Asuncion
| Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción Asunción |
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| Nickname: Mother of Cities | |
| Founded | August 15, 1537 |
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| Government | |
| - Intendant | Evanhy de Gallegos |
| Area | |
| - City | 117 km² (45.2 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 43 m (141 ft) |
| Population (2002 est.) | |
| - City | 512,112 |
| - Density | 4,377/km² (11,336.4/sq mi) |
| - Metro | 1,639,000 |
| Website: http://www.mca.gov.py | |
Asunción (full name: Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción), population 1,212,112 (2002), is the capital of the land-locked nation of Paraguay, in South America. It is the home of the national government, principal port, chief industrial and cultural centre of the country. Local manufacturing production includes footwear, textiles, and tobacco products.
Geography
The Spanish word asunción means assumption in English. It refers to the Assumption of Mary; the full name means Our Lady, Holy Mary of the Assumption. The city is located 141 feet (43 metres) above sea level, upon a promontory, on the left bank of the Paraguay River, near its confluence with the Pilcomayo River. The river separates the city in the north-west from the Occidental Region of Paraguay and Argentina in the south part of the city. The rest of the city is surrounded by the Central Department.
Asuncion's land area totals 45.2 square miles (117 square kilometers).
The climate of Asunción can be described as warm and humid for most of the year. The average temperature of the city is 75.2°F (24°C), with an average maximum of 84.9°F (29.4°C) and an average minimum of 66.6°F (19.2°C). In 2002, the registered level of rain was 1420 millimeters, with the most falling in October, and the least in September.
Since the location is next to the Paraguay River, the city offers beautiful landscapes and spreads out on gentle hills in a pattern of rectangular blocks. Places like Cerro Lambaré (a hill) located in Lambaré offer a spectacular show in the spring because of the lapacho trees in the area. Parks like Parque Independencia and Parque Carlos Antonio López offer big areas of Paraguayan hardwood forest and are often frequented by tourists. There are several slightly elevated areas throughout the city (small hills) such as Cabará, Clavel, Tarumá, Cachinga, Tacumbú, among others. The neighbourhoods of Asunción, called "barrios" by its residents, are territorial subdivisions established by law.
An environmental issue for Paraguay concerns inadequate means for waste disposal, which poses health risks for many urban residents.
History
Asunción, known as "Mother of Cities", is one of the oldest cities in South America. It was from there that the colonial expeditions departed to found other cities, including the second foundation of Buenos Aires, Villarrica, Corrientes, Santa Fe and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
The site of the city may have been first visited by conquistador Juan de Ayolas (d. 1537), but the town, called Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Our Lady of the Assumption), was founded on the feast day of the Assumption August 15, 1537, by Spanish explorers Juan de Salazar (1508-1560) and Gonzalo de Mendoza.
Jesuits established mission settlements on the Paraná River, a tributary of the Paraguay River, in 1588. In 1603, Asunción was the seat of the First Synod of Asunción, which set guidelines for the evangelization of the natives in their lingua franca, Guaraní.
For a time, Asunción was an important city to the Spanish colonial administration. It was an easier sail from Spain: across the Atlantic, up the Río de la Plata, hop over to the Río Paraguay and use the growing port as a staging area to the rest of the South American heartland. Thus, the city became the center of a large Spanish colonial province comprising part of Brazil, present-day Paraguay and northeastern Argentina: the Giant Province of the Indies.
Asunción developed along the river bank. To the east of the river, fertile land supported the growing population and the city thrived. Buildings from the colonial period attest to the prosperity of the city the Spanish enjoyed as almost a vacation resort.
In 1731, an uprising under José de Antequera y Castro (1690-1732), a a Spanish lawyer and judge in Peru, was one of the first rebellions against Spanish colonial rule. The uprising failed but it was the first sign of the independent spirit that was growing among the criollos, mestizos and natives of Paraguay. In 1767, Jesuit missionaries were expelled.
Paraguay declared its independence after overthrowing the the Spanish Governor Bernardo de Velasco on May 14, 1811. Secret meetings between independence leaders were held at the home of Juana María de Lara, in downtown Asunción. Lara's home came to be known as Casa de la Independencia (House of the Independence) and serves as a museum and historical building.
After Paraguay became independent, there was significant change in Asunción. Under the presidency of Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia (1766–1840), who ran the country with little outside influence from 1814 to 1840, roads were made throughout the city and the streets were named.
However, it was while Carlos Antonio López (1790-1862) was president, from 1844 to 1862, that Asunción (and Paraguay) progressed, as the new president implemented new economic policies. More than 400 schools, metallurgic factories and the first railroad service in South America were built during the López presidency.
After López died, his son Francisco Solano López (1826-1870) became the new president and led the country through the disastrous War of the Triple Alliance (1865-1870). That war, that caused more deaths than any other South American war, was fought between Paraguay and the allied countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Asunción was captured in 1868, and occupied by Brazilian troops until 1876.
That war had a devastating, long-term effect on Paraguay. In addition to losing 55,000 square miles (142,450 square kilometers) of productive territory in the southeast and northeast, the government had to sell many of its assets to pay reparations. Nearly half the population was lost, leaving a population of mostly women and children.
After a period of occupation, Paraguay went through a period of authoritarian rule, war with Bolivia from 1932 to 1935, a military takeover in 1936, and civil war in 1946. Alfredo Stroessner took over in 1954, and ruled as a virtual dictator until 1989. Paraguay became progressively isolated from the world community.
On February 3, 1989, Stroessner was overthrown in a military coup headed by Gen. Andres Rodriguez, won the presidency in elections held that May. As president, Rodriguez instituted political, legal, and economic reforms and initiated a rapprochement with the international community. A new constitution in June 1992 established a democratic system of government and dramatically improved protection of fundamental rights.
Wars, political upheavals and dictatorships made the country, and the capital city Asuncion, a less desirable tourist destination. Since 1989, Asunción's tropical climate, friendliness of the Azuceños, and position as gateway to the Gran Chaco, has attracted visitors.
Government
Paraguay is a constitutional republic, with a popularly elected president, and a bicameral Congress consisting of an 80-member Chamber of Deputies and a 45-member Senate. The country has a multiparty electoral system, but the Colorado Party has governed for 60 years. Asuncion has a mayor and a city council. The Asunción Capital District is a subnational entity in Paraguay that is not part of any of the 17 departments. As of 2002, it had the third largest population in the country compared to the other departments. Its capital is the city of Asunción, which is also the capital of Paraguay.
Economy
Paraguay has a predominantly agricultural economy, with a struggling commercial sector, a large informal sector, and a large subsistence sector. There is sizable urban unemployment and under-employment, and a large underground re-export sector. The country has vast hydroelectric resources, including the world's largest hydroelectric-generation facility, built and operated jointly with Brazil (Itaipú Dam), but it lacks significant mineral or petroleum resources.
Paraguay's per capita GDP was $US4500 in 2007, and has stagnated since the 1980s. Political uncertainty, corruption, limited progress on structural reform, and deficient infrastructure, has all been blamed.
Asunción has always been the center of the economic activity in Paraguay, mainly due to the location of all the national politic governing bodies there, and is the main distribution centre. Industries in the city process cotton, sugarcane, corn (maize), flour, tobacco, fruit, vegetable oils, and cattle products. The river city is the location of the production of small river craft.
A river terminal is located in the downtown area and in the Sajonia neighbourhood. A good metropolitan bus service is used heavily. The main long-distance bus terminal is on the Republica Argentina Avenue. Asunción is served by the Silvio Pettirossi International Airport located in the city of Luque.
Demographics
Asunción's current population is approximately 539,000 people in the city proper. Roughly 30 percent of Paraguay's six million people live within Greater Asunción. Sixty-five percent of the total population in the city are under the age of 30.
The metropolitan area, named Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby and Villa Elisa; having more than 1.8 million inhabitants.
The population has increased greatly during the last few decades as a consequence of internal migration from other Departments of Paraguay at first because of the economic boom in the 1970s, and later because of economic recession in the countryside. The adjacent cities in the Gran Asunción area like Luque, Lambaré, San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora and Mariano Roque Alonso have absorbed most of this influx due to the low cost of the land and easy access to Asunción. The city has ranked as the least expensive city to live in for five years running by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. These cities have also experienced significant economic growth and expansion, to the point that the boundaries between Asunción and its adjacent cities has almost but disappeared.
The literacy rate is 95 percent, the highest in Paraguay. The number of schools has doubled since 1982, creating many new jobs for teachers. Student numbers have doubled since 1962.
The city has a large number of both public and private schools. The best known public schools are the Colegio Nacional de la Capital (which is one of the oldest schools in the city, founded after the Triple Alliance War in 1877), Colegio Presidente Franco and the Colegio Nacional de Niñas (a girls-only school). The best known private schools are Internacional, Colegio San José (Catholic school), American School of Asunción, Colegio Dante Alighieri (Italian private school), Colegio Goethe (German school), and Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola.
The main universities in the city are the Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (private Catholic University) and the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (state-run). The Católica has a small campus in the downtown area next to the Cathedral and a larger campus in the adjoining city of Lambaré, while the Universidad Nacional has its main campus near the adjoining city of San Lorenzo. There are also a number of smaller privately run universities such as Universidad Americana and Universidad Autónoma de Asunción
Of interest
The city is home to the Godoy Museum and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (which contains old paintings from the 19th century), the Church of La Encarnación and the Cathedral, and the Panteón Nacional de los Héroes, a smaller version of Les Invalides in Paris, where many of the nation's heroes are entombed. Other landmarks include the Palacio de los López (presidential palace) [1],[2], the old Senate building (a modern building opened to house Congress in 2003), the Catedral Metropolitana and the Casa de la Independencia (one of the few examples of colonial architecture remaining in the few c\ities).
Calle Palma is the main street downtown where several historical buildings, plazas, shops, restaurants and cafes are located. The "Manzana de la Rivera," located in front of the Presidential Palace, is a series of old traditional homes that have been restored that act as a museum and showcase the architectural evolution of the city. The old railway station still maintains the old trains that now are used in tourist trips to the cities of Luque and Areguá (see Rail transport in Paraguay).
Asunción also has luxurious malls that contain shops of well-known brands. The biggest shopping malls are Shopping del Sol, which includes a Macy's-style department store; Mariscal Lopez Shopping, Shopping Villa Morra in the central part of the city and the downtown-located Mall Excelsior.
The nightlife revolves around two areas: one in the downtown part of the city and the other in the neighbourhoods of Manora and Las Carmelitas, a strip full of nightclubs and bars.
Football is the main sport in Paraguay, and Asunción is home to some of the most important and traditional soccer teams like Olimpia, Cerro Porteño and Club Libertad, Club Nacional, Club Guaraní, Club Sol de América, which have their own stadiums and sport facilities for affiliated members. The Defensores del Chaco stadium is the main football stadium of the country and is located in the neighbourhood of Sajonia, just a few minutes away from the centre of Asunción. Since it is a national stadium sometimes it is used for other activities such as rock concerts.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Moreno, Fulgencio Ricardo. 1926. La ciudad de la Asuncion. Buenos Aires: J. Suarez OCLC 221603452
- Reid, William Alfred. 1918. Asuncion, Paraguay's interesting capital. Bulletin of the Pan American Union. 47 (4): 485-510. OCLC 49463371
External links
- Municipality of Asunción Retrieved July 16, 2008.
- Additional Pictures of Asunción Retrieved July 16, 2008.
- The Tramway System of Asunción
- Old Pictures / Postcards of Asunción
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