Department of Caaguazú

Caaguazú is one of the seventeen departments that, together with Asunción, Capital District, make up the Republic of Paraguay. Its capital is the city of Coronel Oviedo; and its most populated city is Caaguazú. Located in the center of the eastern region of the country, it borders to the north with San Pedro and Canindeyú, to the south with Guairá, to the southeast with Caazapá, to the east with Alto Paraná and to the west with Cordillera. With 430,142 inhabitants in 2022, it is the fourth most populated department, behind Central, Alto Paraná and Itapúa.

History

The area that this department occupies today, during the 16th and 17th centuries, was the scene of incursions by Portuguese bandeirantes and the Guaicurú Indians, which caused it to be desolate for a long time.

In the 18th century it began to be populated. In 1712, the Villa de San Isidro Labrador de Curuguaty was founded by Juan Gregorio Bazán de Pedraza; Then Ybytimí was founded in 1715, San Joaquín in 1746, and Carayaó in 1770.

In 1906, the V department, Yhú, was created, which included the districts of Yhú, as capital of the department, Ajos, Carayaó, San Joaquín and Caaguazú.

In 1945 with the territorial reorganization, it was given the name Caaguazú and its territory was extended to the northwest. In 1973, the current territory, surface and boundaries, as well as the districts, were finally delineated.

Geography

It is located in the eastern center of the Eastern Region, between the parallels 24º 30' and 25º 50' of south latitude and between the meridians 55º 00' and 56º 45 of west latitude.

Its limits are:

• North: with the departments of San Pedro and Canindeyú.

• East: with the department of Alto Paraná.

• West: with the departments of Cordillera and Paraguarí.

• South: with the departments of Guará and Caazapá.

Climate

The predominant climate is subtropical (close to the tropical border), with abundant rainfall. The average maximum is 31 °C in summer and in winter it can reach up to 10 °C, it is one of the best areas for agriculture in the country.

Orography and soils

The Caaguazú Mountain Range crosses the department from north to south. The mountain ranges that make it up are: San Joaquín, in San Joaquín and in Yhú, Tajao Paú, Carayaó and Caaguazú, between Carayaó and Cnel. Oviedo. The height of the San Joaquín mountains does not exceed 200 meters, towards the east the terrain rises and reaches 250 m s. n. m..

Towards the west the formations are of fluvial and glacial origin from the Carboniferous, with sandstone and tilite soils. To the east, the soils are also of fluvial, lacustrine, deltaic and marine origin corresponding to the Permian with content of aeolian sandstones from the Triassic in the mountains, in which quartz sands predominate.

It has sandstone and basalt soils, as well as mountain ranges and meadows for livestock.

The geomorphology of the area is characterized by a succession of valleys, interspersed with elevated lands with a north-south orientation. In the north there are lowlands with extensive grazing fields. To the east, the land is high with thinned forests and natural grasslands.

The land is exploited for agriculture.

Hydrography

The important water courses that cross the department are formed as follows: the slope of the Río Hondo, Tobatiry. The slope of the Paraná River is the Acaray, Monday–mi, Yguazú, Capiibary and Guyraungua Rivers.

The beautiful nature of this city of the Three ecoregions covers the department of Caaguazú, the Central Jungle in the center of the department; the Alto Paraná in the east and the Central Coast in the west.

Forest activity is the main occupation in the region; It provides raw materials to the area's logging industry and log traffic, this is one of the areas most affected by deforestation.

Some species in danger of extinction are the yvyra paje, the nandyta, the cedar and the tumera aureli; As for fauna, the endangered species are the tirica, the jaguar and the arira´y.

Demography

Administrative organization

The department is divided territorially into districts, the following district municipalities being:

Economy

Caaguazú is the first national producer of cassava and the second largest producer of cotton. The residents also dedicate themselves to livestock and agricultural crops. It is also the second producer of sweet cane and the fourth in corn production.

As for industries, the main sectors are cotton gins, oil mills and wood sawmills, the artisan furniture industry, dairy processing with the companies Lactolanda and La Fortuna, taking into account that the district of Dr. Juan Eulogio Estigarribía Ex-Campo 9 has been projected to be the main supplier of dairy products and dairy products in Paraguay, through a new and dynamic dairy basin. There are other large successful industries such as “Molinos Colonial”, “Hilagro”, “Sol Blanca” “F.H. Friesen Hermanos”, “Sem-Agro S.R.L.”, “Molinos Bergthal” “Industrias Alimenticia Apetit S.A.", "MOLIPAR Molinos del Paraguay","Almisur S.A.", "Schroeder Cia S.A" chicken refrigerator "Farmers Campo 9" and Hildebrand S.A. Tilapia filet for export Menno Pez has been standing out in the national market.

It is highlighted that the department appears as one of the departments that obtains the highest yield (KG/HA) in the cultivation of stevia in Paraguay.

As it is located at a crossroads, it is an important commercial center.

Communication and Services

The main land communication routes are routes II “Mcal. Estigarribia” and VII “Dr. Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia”, crossing the department from east to west and connecting Coronel Oviedo with Asunción and Ciudad del Este, respectively.

The route VIII “Dr. Blas Garay” crosses the department from north to south, linking San Estanislao to Caazapá, passing through Coronel Oviedo, and connecting it with Villarrica.

The land route is the most used as a means of communication.

Landing strips are used for small aerial machines. They have telephony for more than 10,300 lines, AM radio stations: Radio Excélsior, Tajy, Coronel Oviedo, La Voz del Este; on FM: Seguritec Ingeniería SA, Horizonte, Centenario, Lo Mita, Radio Messengero, Radio Clásica, América, Alborada, among others. There are also television channels.

Health

Throughout the territory there are 65 health establishments including hospitals, posts and health centers.

Coronel Oviedo, the capital district and main city of the Department of Caaguazú, has the most important local hospital, called the Regional Hospital of the Ministries of Health of Paraguay, and another one under construction, which will be the General Hospital of the Nation as the most complex in the region and will serve as a university hospital for the National University of Caaguazú within the Faculty of Medicine.

Education

There are 589 initial level institutions, 913 for basic school education and 151 for secondary education.

The National University of Asunción develops there the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Administration, a Polytechnic branch with the Computer Programmer career and a Philosophy branch with Educational Sciences, a Law Branch with Lawyer careers, and the Andrés Barbero Institute to study nursing and midwifery. The Catholic University, for its part, has a Sub-Headquarters in the city of Caaguazú and another in Coronel Oviedo with courses in Agronomy, Veterinary Medicine, Legal Sciences, Pedagogy with emphasis on different areas, Business Administration, and Teaching in Early Childhood Education. The National University of Caaguazú UNC@, with different faculties, Medicine, nursing, technological sciences in their areas of Computer and Electronic Engineering, Business Administration and others. There are also Private Universities such as UNINORTE, UPAP, UTIC, UTCD, UNISAL, UNICHACO and Universidad San Agustín.