Amambay () is a
department in
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
. The capital is
Pedro Juan Caballero.
The name comes from the name of a part of the Caaguazú Cordillera, "
Amambai Mountains". Amambay is the name of a fern, typical of the forest in the region.
Districts
The department is divided in 6 districts:
#
Bella Vista
#
Capitán Bado
#
Karapaí
Karapaí (locally known as Estrella del Norte) is a municipality in Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in Sout ...
#
Pedro Juan Caballero
#
Zanja Pytá
Zanja Pytá (guarani for ''Red Trench'') is a city and district in Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South ...
#
Cerro Corá
History
For a long time, the land was occupied by the natives of the region and suffered the attacks of the
Bandeirantes that were looking for the
Guaranís, who were able to find refuge in the jungle of the area.
After the
Paraguayan War
The Paraguayan War, also known as the War of the Triple Alliance, was a South American war that lasted from 1864 to 1870. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance of Argentina, the Empire of Brazil, and Uruguay. It was the deadlies ...
, vast expanses of land passed to the hands of foreign businessmen dedicated to exploiting
yerba mate
Yerba mate or yerba-maté (''Ilex paraguariensis''; from Spanish ; pt, erva-mate, or ; gn, ka'a, ) is a plant species of the holly genus '' Ilex'' native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The lea ...
and lumber.
Pedro Juan Caballero was found in 1893, and
Bella Vista, in 1902. The department of Amambay was created in 1945 as the No. 10 department of the country. After some reorganization it was declared as the No. 13 department.
The population in the area was consolidated with the establishment of rural colonies dedicated to agriculture and livestock industries.
Pedro Juan Caballero, the capital of the department, is still known by its old name, Punta Porá, used by the traveling merchants that transported
yerba
Yerba mate or yerba-maté (''Ilex paraguariensis''; from Spanish ; pt, erva-mate, or ; gn, ka'a, ) is a plant species of the holly genus ''Ilex'' native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The leave ...
from
Mato Grosso to
Concepción.
In 2020 Amambay, as an important
drug trafficking route, while accounting for just 2.4% of the country’s population, suffered over a quarter of its murders.
Limits
Amambay is located in the north part of the Oriental Region of Paraguay. The exact geographic location is between the parallels 55° 28′ and 57° 00′ of West longitude and between meridians 22° 05′ and 23° 05′ of South latitude.
The limits are:
To the North: Brazil, from which is separated by the Apa River and Amambay Cordillera.
To the South:
Canindeyú Department
Canindeyú () is a department in Paraguay. The capital is the city of Salto del Guairá.
Canindeyú comes from the Guarani words Kaninde - macaw; ju - yellow, blue-and-yellow macaw (''Ara ararauna'').
Districts
The department is divided in 16 ...
To the East: Brazil, from which is separated by the Amambay Cordillera
To the West:
Concepción and
San Pedro Departments
Climate
The average temperature is 21 °C; it reaches 35 °C in summer and drops to −1 °C in winter. The rainy months are January, February and March.
Orography and soil
In the territory are predominant, from north to south sandstone and rocks.
Amambay is the highest of Paraguayan territories, it reaches 300 to 400 meters, and the Punta Porá Hill reaches even 700 meters. The Amambay Cordillera serves as the natural limit with Brazil and from it parts the Serranía Cerro Corá, Tacurupytá, Guasú, Alambique, Tuna and Tangaró.
Some isolated hills are: Tranquerita, Tacuara, Verón Cué and Cuatiá.
Hydrography
The Apa River delimits the territory to the North, just as the Estrella Stream does with Brazil. The Aquidabán River and the streams Tapiracuai, Aquidabán-mi, Cabayu and Guazú are also in Amambay.
The West of the department is bordered by the Ypané River and others such as Tutytí, Aguaray Verde, Puente de la Tabla Puendy and Ypané-mi.
Natural environment
![Cerro muralla, Cerro Cora, Amambay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Cerro_muralla%2C_Cerro_Cora%2C_Amambay.JPG)
The entire department belongs to the Ecological Region of Amambay. The ecosystem has a great variety of fauna and flora.
The richness natural resources in the region causes the department to be highly affected by deforestation. Some species of plants currently in danger of extinction include local palm tree species,
karanday
''Copernicia alba'' is a South American species of palm tree, which is found in the Humid Chaco ecoregion in Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil (in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul) and Argentina (especially the province of ...
(''
Copernicia alba
''Copernicia alba'' is a South American species of palm tree, which is found in the Humid Chaco ecoregion in Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil (in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul) and Argentina (especially the province of ...
''), array,
Amambay fern
Amambay () is a department in Paraguay. The capital is Pedro Juan Caballero.
The name comes from the name of a part of the Caaguazú Cordillera, " Amambai Mountains". Amambay is the name of a fern, typical of the forest in the region.
Distri ...
, trébol,
yvyra paje,
kai kygua, and local cedars.
In addition, there are some animal species that are in danger too:
agua’a sayju,
jacaré ita, and
guasuti.
The protected areas are:
* Estrella Forest: 30.000 hectares
* Pira’y Forest: 22.500 hectares
* Guasú Hill: 15.000 hectares
* Sarambí Hill: 15.000 hectares.
Cerro Corá National Park was created by decree No. 20.698 on February 11, 1976, with a surface of 12.038 hectares. It is located in Pedro Juan Caballero's district.
Tourism
![Pai Tavytera Indians](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Pai_Tavytera_Indians.jpg)
Amambay is a department very favored by nature's beauty. Amambay Cordillera forms a chain of mountains: Cerro Corá, Tacurý Pytá, Guasú and Alambique. The most important hills are: Cerro Corá, located in the National Park, Acuá, Lorito, Guasú, Muralle and Sarambí.
In Cerro Corá, on the banks of Aquidabán Nigui River in 1870 an historic event took place: the death of Marshal
Francisco Solano López
Francisco Solano López Carrillo (24 July 1827 – 1 March 1870) was President of Paraguay from 1862 until his death in 1870. He was the eldest son of Juana Pabla Carrillo and of President Carlos Antonio López, Francisco's predecessor.
...
, in the
Battle of Cerro Corá
The Battle of Cerro Corá was fought on 1 March 1870 on a hill-surrounded valley of the same name, in the north-east of Paraguay.
Background
In February 1870, an allied column under the command of colonel Bento Martins de Meneses, learned t ...
. In the National Park, there is a monument to him.
In Cerro Guasú, Yasuká Verá, there are caverns and rests of human artifacts of archeological importance that date from 2.500 to 3.800 years ago.
Tapé Tuyá is a road the remaining Paraguayan army took in the campaign of 1896–1870. The area was inhabited by colonies of natives of the
Tupí Guaraní Family, the
Paí Tavyterá and
Ava Guaraní. There is a hill in there that was considered to be a holy place by the Ava Guaraní. They thought it was the center of the earth, where the world was created and were born the first man and the first woman.
In Pedro Juan Caballero, the beaches in the banks of Aquidabán River are places of great beauty and attract many visitors, just as do the commercial centers in the city.
The beaches in
Bella Vista are much visited by the tourists.
Economy
It is a territory of intense commerce because of its limitation with Brazil.
In the country's economy, the department ranks sixth place in breeding cattle and produces 2% of the national production of cotton.
The Agricola production of the region is:
garlic,
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
,
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...
,
beans
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...
,
banana,
sweet potato,
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
,
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...
,
onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...
,
sunflower,
lemon
The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China.
The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...
,
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
,
tangerine
The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...
,
manioc
''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...
,
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...
,
mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
,
sour
The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...
and
sweet orange
An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...
,
potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
,
pineapple
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...
,
grapefruit,
soy
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses.
Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu and ...
,
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
,
sorghum, tartago,
tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
,
yerba mate
Yerba mate or yerba-maté (''Ilex paraguariensis''; from Spanish ; pt, erva-mate, or ; gn, ka'a, ) is a plant species of the holly genus '' Ilex'' native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The lea ...
and
carrot.
The people also dedicate to the breeding of several animals, such as cow, horse, sheep, goat, and some birds too, chicken, guinea, turkey, goose and duck.
The most important industries are: food, dairy, mills, yerba industries and sawmills. In Itapopó there is a very modern ceramic industry.
Every year, in October, is organized the Expo Amambay of industry, commerce and services.
Communication and services
The most important ways of access to Amambay are Route No. 5 "Gral. Bernardino Caballero" that communicates with Concepción and joins Route No. 3 "Gral. Elizardo Aquino", which connects with Asunción and Cnel. Oviedo. Route No. 11 "Juana de Lara" reaches to Capitán Bado.
The department has paved and pebbled routes. The International Route that communicates Pedro Juan Caballero –
Capitán Bado with Brazil is much used for business purposes.
The airport "Dr. Augusto R. Fuster" in Pedro Juan Caballero, offers regular flights to Asunción.
Amambay's radio stations are: in AM, La Voz del Amambay and Mcal. López. In FM, Pantanal, amambay, Cerro Corá, Frontera, Capitán Bado and Sin Frontera. There are also, television stations and a telephonic central.
There are 23.921 housings in the department, 16.174 in the urban area and 7.747 in the rural area. The percentage of which count with basic facilities are the following:
* Electrical power: 56,3%
* Running water: 21%
* Trash recollection: 37,7%
Education
In the department there are 33 institutions of elementary education, 188 of basic education and 28 of high school education (according to the Paraguayan education system).
Health
Counting hospitals and others, there is a total of 22 health care institutions.
References
* Geografía Ilustrada del Paraguay, Distribuidora Arami SRL; 2007.
* Geografía del Paraguay, Primera Edición 1999, Editorial Hispana Paraguay SRL
External links
SENATUR
{{Geography of Paraguay
States and territories established in 1945
1945 establishments in Paraguay