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Alto Paraguay (; ''Upper Paraguay'') is the least populous as well as a sparsely populated department of
Alto Paraguay contains a varied and large amount of natural resources, which is why this department is home to several
Paraguay's largest reserves of undeveloped fertile virgin forest covered land and lowest land prices are found in Alto Paraguay. However, agriculture and cattle farming are starting to make inroads. The fertility of the Chaco's deep sedimentary soils is generally high, except in the westernmost parts, where there are very sandy soils, and in the eastern plain where there are some seasonal wetlands. Annual rainfall is sufficient in the east (around 1200mm), fair in the center (around 900mm) and scarce in the west (around 700mm). A lack of infrastructure and roads is the primary limitation for farmers in the area.
Current agricultural expansion comes at the expense of the area's native forests. During the two decades between 1990 and 2010, Paraguay had one of the highest
Dirección General de Estadística, Encuestas y Censos : ''Censo : Lista de Áreas de Variables de Personas''
Retrieved 5 March 2010 # Bahía Negra # Capitán Carmelo Peralta # Fuerte Olimpo # Puerto Casado #
Alto Paraguay Info
{{Geography of Paraguay States and territories established in 1992
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 the town of Fuerte Olimpo.
In 1992, the Chaco Department was merged with Alto Paraguay.
Nature and national parks
Alto Paraguay contains a varied and large amount of natural resources, which is why this department is home to several national parks
A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...
, each with different characteristics. The Defensores del Chaco National Park is the largest in the Paraguayan territory. This park is home to the hill Cerro León, which is the highest point in the northern region of Paraguay. The dry terrain is optimal for the growth of various species of cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...
. Another park in this department, Parque Nacional Río Negro, is located in an area with several small lakes and is home to most of the fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...
in the department. Other national parks in Alto Paraguay are Parque Nacional Coronel Cabrera and Parque Nacional Chovoreca, which reside in dry regions.
Agriculture, livestock and deforestation
Paraguay's largest reserves of undeveloped fertile virgin forest covered land and lowest land prices are found in Alto Paraguay. However, agriculture and cattle farming are starting to make inroads. The fertility of the Chaco's deep sedimentary soils is generally high, except in the westernmost parts, where there are very sandy soils, and in the eastern plain where there are some seasonal wetlands. Annual rainfall is sufficient in the east (around 1200mm), fair in the center (around 900mm) and scarce in the west (around 700mm). A lack of infrastructure and roads is the primary limitation for farmers in the area.
Current agricultural expansion comes at the expense of the area's native forests. During the two decades between 1990 and 2010, Paraguay had one of the highest deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
rates worldwide. The World Land Trust
The World Land Trust is a UK registered charity. It raises money to buy and then protect environmentally-threatened land in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. In 2018 it claimed to have raised more than £25 million and to have bought ...
estimates deforestation in the Paraguay Chaco at over 200.000 hectare for 2008 alone
The department's most important activity by far is cattle ranching, both extensive in the savannas of the east and intensive on the planted pastures of cleared land. Cultivation of sorghum, sugar cane and (in planning stage as of January 2009, for the arid west) jatropha
''Jatropha'' is a genus of flowering plants in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words ἰατρός (''iatros''), meaning "physician", and τροφή (''trophe''), meaning "nutrition", hence the common name ...
are very recent developments.
Districts
The department is divided into five districts:Retrieved 5 March 2010 # Bahía Negra # Capitán Carmelo Peralta # Fuerte Olimpo # Puerto Casado #
Mayor Pablo Lagerenza
Mayor Pablo Lagerenza is a town in the Alto Paraguay department of Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in S ...
See also
* List of high schools in Alto ParaguayReferences
External links
Alto Paraguay Info
{{Geography of Paraguay States and territories established in 1992