Asunción in the context of "Paraguay"

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⭐ Core Definition: Asunción

Asunción (English: /ɑːˌsnsiˈn, ˌɑːsnˈsjn/, Spanish: [asunˈsjon]; Guarani: "Paraguay") is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the northwest separate the city from the Occidental Region of Paraguay and from Argentina in the south part of the city. The rest of the city is surrounded by the Central Department.

Asunción is one of the oldest cities in South America and the longest continually inhabited area in the Río de la Plata Basin; for this reason it is known as "the Mother of Cities". From Asunción, Spanish colonial expeditions departed to found other cities, including the second foundation of Buenos Aires, that of other important cities such as Villarrica, Corrientes, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and 65 more. According to the 2022 Paraguayan Census, Asunción has 462,241 inhabitants, while its metropolitan area (known as Greater Asunción) exceeds 2.3 million inhabitants, making it the most densely populated area in Paraguay, and also the most productive as it concentrates 70% of the National GDP. Asunción is the third most populated "jurisdiction" or "political division" in the country, surpassed by the Central and Alto Paraná departments.

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👉 Asunción in the context of Paraguay

Paraguay (Guarani: Paraguái), officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country located in the central region of South America. It borders Bolivia to the northwest and north, Brazil to the northeast and east, and Argentina to the southeast, south, and west. Paraguay has access to the Atlantic Ocean via the Paraná–Paraguay Waterway. The country is governed as a unitary presidential republic composed of a capital district and seventeen departments. Its capital and largest city is Asunción.

The indigenous Guaraní had been living in eastern Paraguay for at least a millennium before the arrival of Spanish conquistadores in 1524. The city of Asunción was founded in 1537 as the first capital of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata within the Spanish Empire. During the 17th century, Paraguay was the center of Jesuit missions, where the natives were converted to Christianity and introduced to European culture. After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories in 1767, Paraguay increasingly became a peripheral colony. Following independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Paraguay was ruled by a series of authoritarian governments. This period ended with the disastrous Paraguayan War (1864–1870), during which the country lost half its prewar population and around 25–33% of its territory. In the 20th century, Paraguay faced another major international conflict—the Chaco War (1932–1935) against Bolivia—in which Paraguay prevailed. It subsequently came under a succession of military dictators, culminating in the 35-year regime of Alfredo Stroessner, which lasted until his overthrow in 1989 by an internal military coup. This marked the beginning of Paraguay's current democratic era.

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Asunción in the context of Treaty of Asunción

The Treaty of Asunción was a treaty between the countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay signed on March 26, 1991. The objective of the treaty, signed in Asunción, was to establish a common market among the participating countries, popularly called Mercosur (Southern Common Market). Later, the Treaty of Ouro Preto was signed to supplement the first treaty, establishing that the Treaty of Asunción was to be a legally and internationally recognized organization.

The treaty defined a program of gradual elimination of import/export fees that would reach a free commerce zone by the end of 1994. Even though the dates of the program were not followed and the free zone was not yet reached, the treaty established the basis for the "Mercado Común del Sur" (Mercosur).

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Asunción in the context of Governorate of the Río de la Plata

The Governorate of the Río de la Plata (1549−1776) (Spanish: Gobernación del Río de la Plata, pronounced [ɡoβeɾnaˈsjon del ˈri.o ðe la ˈplata]) was one of the governorates of the Spanish Empire. It was created in 1549 by Spain in the area around the Río de la Plata.

It was at first simply a renaming of the New Andalusia Governorate and included all of the land between 470 and 670 leagues south of the mouth of the Río Santiago along the Pacific coast. After 1617, Paraguay was separated under a separate administration (Asunción had been the capital of the governorate since Juan de Ayolas.)

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Asunción in the context of Junior Pan American Games

The Junior Pan American Games are a multi-sport event held every four years among youth athletes from all over the American continent. The Games have been organized by Panam Sports. This event, inspired by the Youth Olympic Games, is exclusively for athletes under 21 years of age, with fewer infrastructure requirements and costs than the Pan American Games.

The last games were held in Asunción, Paraguay, in 2025, and the next games are yet to be announced.

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