Itapúa () is a department in the southern region of

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 city of Encarnación. It is divided into 30 districts, more than any other district in the country.

History

This department was created after the breakup of the

Misiones Department Misiones () is a department located in the southern region of Paraguay. Its capital is San Juan Bautista. The eighth of Paraguay's 17 departments, it was created in 1906, then known as the ''San Ignacio Department'', and was not given its p ...

, with the city of Encarnación as the capital. It had high economic growth in the first 30 years of the arrival of immigrants and the Carlos Antonio Lopez Railway; the growth was accompanied by several ups and downs. An era of decline followed until the 1950s when the Carnaval Encarnaceno became better known and attracted tourists from various regions. In the 1980s the department became more industrial, but modestly so compared with other departments like the

Central Department Central () is a department in Paraguay. The capital is Areguá. With 2,243,792 inhabitants, it is the most populated and the smallest of the 17 departments of Paraguay. Boundaries *North: the departments of Cordillera and Presidente Hayes *Wes ...

. In 1989 the

Yacyretá Dam The Yacyretá Dam or Jasyretâ-Apipé Hydroelectric Power Station (from Guaraní ''jasy retã'', "land of the moon") is a dam and hydroelectric power plant built over the waterfalls of Jasyretâ-Apipé in the Paraná River, between the Paraguay ...

displaced the people living in the Yacyretá Reservoir; the displacement still continues. The

San Roque González de Santa Cruz Bridge The San Roque González de Santa Cruz Bridge is a long cable-stayed bridge that crosses the Paraná River between the cities of Posadas, capital of Misiones Province, Argentina and Encarnación, capital of Itapúa, Paraguay. The main bridge is ...

was inaugurated in 1991, connecting not only the city of Encarnación and Posadas, but also Paraguay with

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Toponymy

The name is in

Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guaraní language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * ...

and refers to the place where Encarnación, the current capital city, was founded. The site was known as "''itá''" (rock, stone) and "''punta''" (tip); hence the name means "Tip of the Stone".

Demography

According to the 2002 National Census Itapúa has a total population of 453,692 inhabitants making it the third-most populated department of the country after

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Alto Paraná The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

. 8.9% of Paraguay's total population lives in this department.

Cultural diversity

Much of the Itapúa region was colonized by immigrants from different origins, among them the

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

ns,

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

, French,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese,

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

, and also immigrants from

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

in more recent times. Because of this cultural diversity Itapúa was given the name "

Melting pot The melting pot is a monocultural metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative being a homogeneous society becoming more heterogeneous throug ...

", making it the most cosmopolitan department of Paraguay. In the beginning, the first major economic activity of the immigrants was the exploitation of natural resources, especially

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

, in the Alto Paraná and San Rafael Hills (now a national park). Nowadays, residents are engaged in several thriving industries, including

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

(soybean, tung, corn, etc.) and

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

Administrative division

The department is divided into the following 30 districts: Mapa Itapua Paraguay con Nombres

Location

This department is located southeast of the Eastern Region of Paraguay.

Limits

* North: the departments of

and

Caazapá Caazapá () is a city in Paraguay, founded in 1607, by Friar Luis de Bolaños. It is located in the Caazapá District and is the capital of the Caazapá Department. The name Caazapá comes from the Guarani words "Ka'aguy jehasapa" which means "a ...

. * South: with Argentina (

Provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

and

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní language, Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Corrientes Province, Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from ...

). Separated by the

Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...

. * East: the Argentine Republic (Misiones Province). * West: with the

Climate

The climate is

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depen ...

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

with a tendency to low temperatures, the annual average is 15 °C, with a maximum of 40 °C and a minimum of -3 °C. Rainfall is abundant, with an annual average of nearly 1,700 mm, recorded throughout most of the year except in July and August.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Itapua Department Guaraní words and phrases