Central Department

Central (Spanish: Departamento Central) is a department in Paraguay. The capital is the city of Areguá. Its ISO 3166-2 code is PY-11.

Central
Departamento Central
Department
Aerial view of Areguá
Aerial view of Areguá
Flag
Flag
Coat of arms
Coat of arms
Central department in Paraguay
Location of Central, in red, in Paraguay
Coordinates: 25°18′S 57°25′W
Country Paraguay
RegionOriental
Department1906
Renamed1945
CapitalAreguá
Districts19 (See list)
Area
[1]
 • Total2,465 km2 (952 sq mi)
Population
 (2013)[1]
 • Total2,297,739
 • Density930/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-04 (AST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-03 (ADT)
ISO 3166 codePY-11

The department has 2,297,739 inhabitants. That is more than any other department of Paraguay. The department is also the smallest of all the departments.

History

The Central Department, known as “Comarca Asuncena”, was the most populated country region in old times.

The towns of this department had different origin. Domingo Martínez de Irala started the towns of Itá, Ypané and Areguá in 1538 and 1539. Villeta was founded by the governor Juan Gregorio Bazán de Pedraza in 1714. Other towns were founded around chapels.

The towns of Nueva Italia, Colonia Thompson and Villa Elisa were already established as agricultural settlements in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. These were mainly settled by immigrants.

Geography

The Central department is in the central western part of the Oriental region. It is on the southern border of the Western region. It surrounds the capital, Asunción.

The department has an area of 2,465 km2 (952 sq mi). That is 0.61% of the area of Paraguay. Its estimated population in 2013 was 2,297,739. That gave a population density of 932.1 inhabitants per square kilometre.[1]

The Central department is relatively flat. It has only small hills. It has several rivers, as the Paraguay river, and streams flow through it. The Ypacaraí and Ypoá lakes are on the borders of the department.

Limits

Districts

The department is divided in 19 districts:


Districts of the Central department
No. Districts Area
(km²)		 Population[2]
(2015)		 Density
1Areguá147.6768,713465.3
2Capiatá82.48219,8402,665.4
3Fernando de la Mora20.80163,6587,868.2
4Guarambaré29.8231,8391,067.7
5Itá183.8473,979402.4
6Itauguá103.7497,592940.7
7Julián Augusto Saldívar34.9251,0601,462.2
8Lambaré26.85167,7876,249.1
9Limpio114.97127,2211,106.6
10Luque147.29258,9101,757.8
11Mariano Roque Alonso39.4595,5062,420.9
12Ñemby28.86122,6584,250.1
13Nueva Italia362.7111,73632.4
14San Antonio25.9160,8752,349.5
15San Lorenzo56.17250,6464,462.3
16Villa Elisa17.6074,5644,236.6
17Villeta875.2035,94441.1
18Ypacaraí98.5225,971263.6
19Ypané52.2946,885896.6


Economy
Concrete factories in Villeta.

Industries include the processing of food, furniture, clothing, pharmaceutical production, metallurgic, plastic and ceramics. The city of Villeta has a large number of industries. Central is the second biggest economy of Paraguay.

Tourism
Laguna de Itá, Itá

The Central Department has many attractions for tourism. Among the most famous natural resources at an international level, is the Lago Ypacaraí. This lake is a very important natural attraction and the town of Areguá. The capital of the department is located on the banks of this lake

References
  1. "Compendio Estadístico 2013" (PDF) (in Spanish). Dirección General de Estadísticas, Encuestas y Censos. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  2. "Proyección de la población por sexo y edad, según distrito. Revisión 2015 (8.3 MB)" (PDF) (in Spanish). DGEEC. 2015. pp. 32–33. Retrieved 12 January 2017.

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