Figure 3. Topography and Drainage

The two main natural regions in Paraguay are the Paraneña region--a mixture of plateaus, rolling hills, and valleys--and the Chaco region--an immense piedmont plain. About 95 percent of Paraguay's population resides in the Paraneña region, which has all the significant orographic features and the more predictable climate. The Paraneña region can be generally described as consisting of an area of highlands in the east that slopes toward the Río Paraguay and becomes an area of lowlands, subject to floods, along the river. The Chaco is predominantly lowlands, also inclined toward the Río Paraguay, that are alternately flooded and parched (see fig. 3).

Data as of December 1988