Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Turks and Caicos Islands. note 1: landlocked; lies between Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil; population concentrated in eastern and southern part of country
note 2: pineapples are probably indigenous to the southern Brazil-Paraguay region . Mother's mean age at first birth is 22.9 years (2008 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-29), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 71 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Location | Central South America, northeast of Argentina, southwest of Brazil |
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Geographic coordinates | 23 00 S, 58 00 W |
Map references | South America |
Tarrain | grassy plains and wooded hills east of Rio Paraguay; Gran Chaco region west of Rio Paraguay mostly low, marshy plain near the river, and dry forest and thorny scrub elsewhere |
Natural Resources | hydropower, timber, iron ore, manganese, limestone |
Natural Hazards | local flooding in southeast (early September to June); poorly drained plains may become boggy (early October to June) |
Irrigated Land | 1,362 sq km (2012) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | Río de la Plata/Paraná (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 aquifers | Guarani Aquifer System |
Land Boundaries | 4,655 km |
Border Countries | Argentina 2,531 km; Bolivia 753 km; Brazil 1,371 km |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) |
Climate | subtropical to temperate; substantial rainfall in the eastern portions, becoming semiarid in the far west |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 397,302 sq km |
Water Area | 9,450 sq km |
comparative Area | about three times the size of New York state; slightly smaller than California |
Maritime Claims | |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Cerro Pero 842 m |
Lowest point | junction of Río Paraguay and Río Paraná 46 m |
Mean elevation | 178 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 53.8% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 10.8% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0.2% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 42.8% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 43.8% (2018 est.) |
Other | 2.4% (2018 est.) |
Most of the population resides in the eastern half of the country; to the west lies the Gran Chaco (a semi-arid lowland plain), which accounts for 60% of the land territory, but only 2% of the overall population
In Turks and Caicos Islands, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Mestizo (mixed Spanish and Indigenous ancestry) 95%, other 5%
Population | |
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Pop growth rate | 1.09% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 15.9 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 4.9 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 7.6% of GDP (2020) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | 0.8 beds/1,000 population (2016) |
Total fertility rate | 1.88 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 0.92 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 68.4% (2016) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 59.4% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
Education expenditures | 3.3% of GDP (2020 est.) |
Net Migration rate | -0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Paraguayan | Paraguayan(s) |
Languages | |
Religions | Roman Catholic 80.4%, Protestant 7% (Evangelical (non-specific) 6.7%, Evangelical Pentecostal <0.1%, Adventist <0.1%, Protestant (non-specific) <0.1%), Believer (not belonging to the church) 5.7%, other 0.6%, agnostic <0.1%, none 0.2%, unspecified 6.2% (2023 est.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 22.2% (male 850,191/female 821,237) |
15-64 years | 68.4% (male 2,582,021/female 2,561,962) |
65 years and over | 9.4% (2024 est.) (male 337,164/female 369,974) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 54.4 |
Youth dependency ratio | 44.8 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 9.6 |
Potential support ratio | 10.4 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 31.8 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 31.6 years |
Female | 32 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 63.1% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 1.64% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 3.511 million ASUNCION (capital) (2023). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.04 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 1.01 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.91 male(s)/female |
Total population | 1 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 22 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 26.1 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 17.7 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 78.8 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 76.2 years |
Female | 81.6 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population |
Improved: total | total: 100% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 99.6% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 90.6% of population |
Improved: total | total: 96.2% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.4% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 9.4% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 3.8% of population (2020 est.) |
Major Infectious diseases | |
Degree of risk | intermediate (2023) |
Food or waterborne diseases | bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever |
Vectorborne diseases | dengue fever |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 5.47 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 3.27 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 0.59 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 1.59 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Tobacco use | |
Total | 11.5% (2020 est.) |
Male | 18.6% (2020 est.) |
Female | 4.4% (2020 est.) |
Child marriage | |
Women married by age 15 | 3.6% |
Women married by age 18 | 21.6% (2016 est.) |
Paraguay falls below the Latin American average in several socioeconomic categories, including immunization rates, potable water, sanitation, and secondary school enrollment, and has greater rates of income inequality and child and maternal mortality. Paraguay's poverty rate has declined in recent years but remains high, especially in rural areas, with more than a third of the population below the poverty line. However, the well-being of the poor in many regions has improved in terms of housing quality and access to clean water, telephone service, and electricity. The fertility rate continues to drop, declining sharply from an average 4.3 births per woman in the late 1990s to about 2 in 2013, as a result of the greater educational attainment of women, increased use of contraception, and a desire for smaller families among young women.
Paraguay is a country of emigration; it has not attracted large numbers of immigrants because of political instability, civil wars, years of dictatorship, and the greater appeal of neighboring countries. Paraguay first tried to encourage immigration in 1870 in order to rebound from the heavy death toll it suffered during the War of the Triple Alliance, but it received few European and Middle Eastern immigrants. In the 20th century, limited numbers of immigrants arrived from Lebanon, Japan, South Korea, and China, as well as Mennonites from Canada, Russia, and Mexico. Large flows of Brazilian immigrants have been arriving since the 1960s, mainly to work in agriculture. Paraguayans continue to emigrate to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, the United States, Italy, Spain, and France.
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