Caazapá Department

Caazapá (Spanish pronunciation: [ka(a)saˈpa]) is a department in Paraguay, with its capital in the city of the same name. The eastern region of Caazapá is relatively undeveloped, characterized by rolling hills and large areas of Brazilian Atlantic Forest situated between the San Rafael mountains to the south and the Ybytyruzú mountains to the north. Conversely, the western region consists of low-lying wetlands, marshes, and tributaries feeding into the Tebicuary River, the largest river in eastern Paraguay.

Several indigenous groups inhabit the remaining rainforest areas, particularly south of the highway connecting San Juan Nepomuceno and Tavaí. Among them are the Mbyá and Guayaki peoples, who live in small communities and practice subsistence farming under the forest canopy, cultivating corn, cassava, and yerba mate. Although many of their lands are designated as national reserves and theoretically protected by law, their territories face encroachment from illegal logging, ranching, and large-scale soybean cultivation by Brazilians.

Districts

The department is divided in 11 districts:

{| class="wikitable"

| rowspan="2" align="center" | District

| colspan="3" align="center" | Population (2002)

| align="center"| Urban

| align="center"| Rural

| align="center"| Total

| Abaí || 2,640 || 23,535 || 26,175

| Buena Vista || 1,416 || 3,924 || 5,340

| Caazapá || 5,990 || 16,382 || 22,372

| Doctor Moisés Bertoni || 330 || 4,286 || 4,616

| Fulgencio Yegros || 1,067 || 4,891 || 5,958

| General Higinio Morínigo || 1,242 || 4,257 || 5,499

| Maciel || 431 || 3,526 || 3,957

| San Juan Nepomuceno || 6,937 || 17,306 || 24,243

| Tavaí || 656 || 12,698 || 13,354

| Yuty || 4,299 || 23,704 || 28,003

| Tres de Mayo || || ||

History

The history of the department is closely tied to the early Franciscan missionaries in Paraguay, who established several reductions (reducciones) in the region. Notably, these missions successfully secured a ten-year exemption from the encomienda (patronage) system for the indigenous population, making them some of the earliest successful reductions in the Río de la Plata region.

The central and southern areas of Caazapá played a significant role in the colonial consolidation of Paraguay. The Franciscan presence in the missions of Yuty and Caazapá began in 1607 and expanded throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1786, the San Juan Nepomuceno mission was founded, further expanding agricultural development and settlement in the region.

In 1906, Caazapá was officially established by law as the sixth department of Paraguay, with the city of Caazapá designated as its capital. The department's borders have remained unchanged since their last modification in 1973.

In late 19th century, Australian colonists settled in this department to found a racist-socialist colony. A few descendants still remain, but the colony is considered a failure. One of the most notorious personalities that are descendant of these colonists is the comic book writer Robin Wood. Other famous people from Caazapá are:

M. D. Pedro N. Ciancio, the first pediatrician of Paraguay, and who brought to the country the first grains of soy.
M. D. Pedro Duarte Ortellado, creator of the Ministry of Health and its first minister.
Félix Paiva, lawyer and President of the Republic between 1937 and 1939.
Maria Concepción Leyes de Chávez, writer.
Miguel Ángel Pangrazio, lawyer and writer.
Ana Iris Chávez de Ferreiro, poet and writer.
Felipe Sosa, guitar player.
Father José de Jesús Aguirre, writer and psychologist.
Monsignor Saro Vera, writer.

Geography

Limits

To the North, it limits with the Guairá and Caaguazú departments, to the south with Itapúa, to the east with Alto Paraná and to the west with Misiones and Paraguarí.

Caazapá produces cotton, soy, sweet, cane, corn and manioc.

The forestall exploit was a great part of the department's economic activity 30 years ago, but has diminished in the later years.

There are not many industries in the region, but the few that exists, are dedicated to the processing of food, honey, sweet cane and starch.

Communication and services

The most important way of access to the department is Route No. 8 “Dr. Blas Garay”, which joins the routes No 2 and 7 in Coronel Oviedo. It communicates Caazapá with the rest of the country.

The Carlos Antonio López railway used to cross the department from North to South, 96 kilometers of extension, and included the San Salvador – Abaí road.

The rivers that bathe Caazapá are navigable for small ships. The department also has airstrips for small and medium planes.

Caazapá also has several television and radio stations, such as Hechizo SRL, in AM and Yeruti Comunicaciones, Itacurú SRL, La Voz de Bolaños, Caazapá Poty, Tupa Renda, La Victoria SA, Aguaí Poty and 94.3 in FM.

There are 28.276 housings in the department, 5.765 in the urban area and 22.511 in the rural area. The percentage of which count with basic facilities are the following:

Electrical power: 16,1%

Running water: 5,8%

Trash recollection: 0,3%

Education

The grade repetition rate in the first and second cycles of Basic General Education (EEB) is relatively high in Caazapá (6%).

Only 20% of teachers in Caazapá passed the written exams administered by the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC) to be included in the Database of Eligible Educators (BDEE). Of the 3,020 applicants, only 600 passed the exams held on November 19 and 20 as part of Operation 3.4 of the Public Competitive Examination.

Caazapá has 205 educational institutions, 402 elemental schools and 51 high schools.

The education in the department includes education about the natives of the country.

Health

There are 48 health institutions in Caazapá, including hospitals and health care facilities. Most of them are public.