All the chats in Alto Paraná

Alto Paraná is one of the seventeen departments that make up the Republic of Paraguay. It is located in the east of the eastern region of the country, bounded on the north by Canindeyú, on the east by the Paraná river that separates it from Brazil and Argentina, on the south by Itapúa and on the west by Caazapá and Caaguazú. With 819 589 habs. In 2019 it is the second most populated department -behind Central-, with 14,895 km², the seventh most extensive -behind Boquerón, Alto Paraguay, Presidente Hayes, San Pedro, Concepción and Itapúa- and with 53.8 inhabitants / km², the third most densely populated, behind Central and Cordillera.

Throughout its history, the human settlements in this area were almost null, due to the thick forest that constituted the Atlantic forest of Alto Paraná. It is probably one of the first territories of present-day Paraguay to be discovered and traveled by Europeans, following the expedition of Alejo García between 1524 or 1525. In 1542, the Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca arrived in this area, after a long trip from the Island of Santa Catarina, and in this expedition he discovered and described the Iguazu Falls. During the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it was a transit zone for the incursions of the bandeirantes and indigenous people who harassed the easternmost Spanish villages and the Jesuit reductions located further south of the current territory of Paraguay.

It was not until the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th that the permanent small factories of companies dedicated to the logging-yerbatera exploitation in the area were established. Finally, in 1945 the department of Alto Paraná was created. Its economy, which contributes 35% of the country's GDP, is based mainly on agriculture and is the largest producer of soy in the country. On the other hand, the three hydroelectric plants located in the main rivers of Alto Paraná turn it into one of the territories with the largest generation of electro-hydraulic energy worldwide. Also both livestock and industry comprise a significant place in the economy of the department.