Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay (Spanish: República del Paraguay, pronounced [reˈpuβlika ðel paɾaˈɣwai]; Guaraní: Tetã Paraguái), is one of the two landlocked countries which lie entirely within the Western Hemisphere, the other being Bolivia, both in South America. It lies on both banks of the Paraguay River and is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Because of its central location in South America, the country is sometimes referred to as Corazón de América — Heart of America.[6] As of 2009 the population was estimated at over six million. The country is named after the river that runs through the center of the country, from north to south. There are at least four versions for the origin of the river's name. The literal translation from Guaraní is Para = of many colors; Gua = from or belonging to or place; Y = water or river or lake. Paraguay is divided by the Río Paraguay into the eastern region, officially called Eastern Paraguay (Paraguay Oriental) and known as the Paraná region; and the western region, officially called Western Paraguay (Paraguay Occidental) and also known as the Chaco. The southeastern border is formed by the Paraná River, containing the Itaipú dam shared with Brazil. It is currently the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world, generating almost all the electricity consumed by Paraguay. Another large hydroelectric power plant on the Paraná River is Yacyretá, a collaborative project by Paraguay and Argentina. The terrain consists of grassy plains and wooded hills to the east. To the west, there are mostly low, marshy plains. The local climate ranges from subtropical to temperate, with substantial rainfall in the eastern portions, though becoming semi-arid in the far west. Pre-Columbian society in the wooded, fertile region which is now present-day Paraguay consisted of seminomadic tribes, who were recognized for their fierce warrior traditions. These indigenous tribes were members of five distinct language families, and 17 separate ethnolinguistic groups still remain today. Europeans first arrived in the area in the early sixteenth century, and the settlement of Asunción was founded on August 15, 1537, by the Spanish explorer Juan de Salazar y Espinoza. The city eventually became the center of a Spanish colonial province, as well as a primary site of the Jesuit missions and settlements in South America in the eighteenth century. Jesuit Reductions were founded and flourished in eastern Paraguay for about 150 years until the expulsion of the Jesuits by the Spanish crown in 1767. Paraguay declared its independence after overthrowing the local Spanish administration on May 14, 1811. Paraguay's history has been characterized by long periods of political instability and infighting, and devastating wars with its neighbors. Paraguay fought the War of the Triple Alliance against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, and was defeated in 1870 after five years of the bloodiest war in South America. Paraguay's prewar population of approximately 525,000 was reduced to about 221,000 in 1871, of which only about 28,000 were men.[7] Paraguay also suffered extensive territorial losses to Brazil and Argentina. The Chaco War was fought with Bolivia in the 1930s, and Bolivia was defeated. Paraguay re-established sovereignty over the region called the Chaco, but forfeited additional territorial gains as a price of peace. The history of Paraguay is fraught with disputes among historians, educators and politicians. The official version of historical events, wars in particular, varies depending on whether you read a history book written in Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Europe, or North America. Both the Colorado Party and Liberal Party maintain distinct official versions of Paraguayan history . During the pillaging of Asuncion (Saqueo de Asunción) in 1869, the Brazilian Imperial Army ransacked and relocated the Paraguayan National Archives to Rio de Janeiro where they have been kept secret , making Colonial and early National Period history difficult to study. Between 1904 and 1954, Paraguay had thirty-one presidents, most of whom were removed from office by force.[8] Leftist former bishop Fernando Lugo achieved a historic victory in Paraguay's presidential election in April 2008, defeating the ruling party candidate and ending 61 years of conservative rule. Lugo won with nearly 41% of the vote compared to almost 31% for Blanca Ovelar of the Colorado party.[9] Paraguay is a representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Paraguay is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the National Congress. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. After World War II, politics became particularly unstable with several political parties fighting for power in the late 1940s, which most notably led to the Paraguayan civil war of 1947.[10] A series of unstable governments ensued until the establishment in 1954 of the stable regime of dictator Alfredo Stroessner, who remained in office for more than three decades. Paraguay modernized to some extent under Stroessner's regime, though his rule was marked by extensive human rights abuses.[11] The splits in the Colorado Party in the 1920s and the conditions that led to this — Stroessner's age, the character of the regime, the economic downturn, and international isolation — provided an opportunity for demonstrations and statements by the opposition prior to the 1988 general elections. The PLRA leader Domingo Laíno served as the focal point of the opposition in the second half of the 1980s. The government's effort to isolate Laíno by exiling him in 1982 had backfired. On his sixth attempt, in 1986, Laíno returned with three television crews from the U.S., a former United States ambassador to Paraguay, and a group of Uruguayan and Argentine congressmen. Despite the international contingent, the police violently barred Laíno's return. However, the Stroessner regime relented in April 1987 and permitted Laíno to arrive in Asunción. Laíno took the lead in organizing demonstrations and diminishing somewhat the normal opposition party infighting. The opposition was unable to reach agreement on a common strategy regarding the elections, with some parties advocating abstention and others calling for blank voting. Nonetheless, the parties did cooperate in holding numerous lightning demonstrations (mítines relámpagos), especially in rural areas. Such demonstrations were held and disbanded quickly before the arrival of the police. Paraguay was obviously stung by the upsurge in opposition activities, Stroessner condemned the Accord for advocating "sabotage of the general elections and disrespect of the law" and used the national police and civilian vigilantes of the Colorado Party to break up demonstrations. A number of opposition leaders were imprisoned or otherwise harassed. Hermes Rafael Saguier, another key leader of the PRLA, was imprisoned for four months in 1987 on charges of sedition. In early February 1988, police arrested 200 people attending a National Coordinating Committee meeting in Coronel Oviedo. Forty-eight hours before the elections, Laíno and several other National Accord members were placed under house arrest. Although contending that these results reflected the Colorados' virtual monopoly of the mass media, opposition politicians also saw several encouraging developments. Some 53% of those polled indicated that there was an "uneasiness" in Paraguayan society. Furthermore, 74% believed that the political situation needed changes, including 45% who wanted a substantial or total change. Finally, 31% stated that they planned to abstain from voting in the February elections. Relations between militants and traditionalists deteriorated seriously in the months following the elections. Although Chaves and his followers had not opposed Stroessner's re-election bid, Montanaro denounced them as "legionnaires" (a reference to those Paraguayan expatriates who fought against Francisco Solano López and who were regarded as traitors by the original Colorados). By late 1988 the only major agencies still headed by traditionalists were the IBR and the National Cement Industry (Industria Nacional de Cemento). In September 1988, traditionalists responded to these attacks by accusing the militants of pursuing "a deceitful populism in order to distract attention from their inability to resolve the serious problems that afflict the nation." Traditionalists also called for an end to personalism and corruption.[12] Paraguay consists of seventeen departments and one capital district (distrito capital). These are, with their capitals indicated: The departments are further divided into districts (distritos). There is no official data on the ethnic composition of the Paraguayan population, because the Department of Statistics, Surveys and Censuses (DGEEC) [13] of Paraguay does not include the concepts race and ethnicity in census surveys [14], although refers to the percentage of indigenous population (according to the census of 2002, the indigenous population represented 1.7% of the total inhabitants of the country)[15]. Traditionally, the Paraguayan population is considered mixed (mestizo in Spanish), because of the massive union between Guaraní women and Spanish settlers who came during the dominance of the Spanish crown on the country[16]. The Ministry of Education and Culture of Paraguay refers thus to the population of the country: "The dominant ancestry is European, which represents a large proportion of the population, mostly descendants of Spanish, Germans, Italians (who have contributed to repopulate the country after the Triple Alliance War) but also a large number of people of German descent, because the German Mennonites (mostly in the western part of the territory). There are 17 Mennonite colonies, only in the Paraguayan Chaco. It is one of Latin American countries with less indigenous trait (because the traditional Paraguayan population - Guaraní-Spanish mix - has been destroyed by the Allies in 1870, for which it had to repopulate the country by resorting to the Italian immigration)[17].