Paraguay is
South America's 'empty quarter,' a
country little known even to its
neighbors. For much of its
history it has distanced itself from the
Latin American mainstream, and for most of this century was South America's most
notorious and
durable police state.
Area: 407,000 sq km (158,730 sq mi)
Population: 4.8 million
Capital: Asunción
Borders: Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia