Paraguay Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

deforestation; water pollution; rivers suffer from toxic dumping; tanneries release mercury and chromium into rivers and streams; loss of wetlands; inadequate means for waste disposal pose health risks for many urban residents

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban, Tropical Timber 2006

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 11.16 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 7.41 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 27.65 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

subtropical to temperate; substantial rainfall in the eastern portions, becoming semiarid in the far west

Land use

agricultural land: 53.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 10.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.2% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 42.8% (2018 est.)

forest: 43.8% (2018 est.)

other: 2.4% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 62.8% of total population (2022)

rate of urbanization: 1.64% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 1.21% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: intermediate (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: dengue fever

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1,818,501 tons (2015 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Rio de la Plata/Parana (shared with Brazil [s], Argentina, and Uruguay [m]) - 4,880 km; Paraguay river mouth (shared with Brazil [s] and Argentina) - 2,549 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Paraná (2,582,704 sq km)

Major aquifers

Guarani Aquifer System

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 362 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 154 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 1.897 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

387.77 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Paraguay on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Paraguay 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Paraguay 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.