1.
Estadio Antonio Aranda
–
Antonio Oddone Sarubbi, is a football stadium in the city of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. It is the venue of Club Atletico 3 de Febrero and is named after a former military figure. The stadium It is located next to Ciudad del Estes bus terminal, the stadium is on the Avenue General Bernardino Caballero, and was opened in 1973. The capacity of the stadium, is 28,000 and it has a grass surface and was renovated in 1999, for which it was utilized as one of the venues of the 1999 Copa América, hosting games by Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile national teams. Fixtures of the 2004 South American U-16 Championship and the 2007 South American U-20 Championship were also disputed at the stadium, the stadium is Paraguays third largest, according to its seating capacity. List of association football stadiums by capacity Club Atletico 3 de Febrero Stadium Info Website
2.
Ciudad del Este
–
Ciudad del Este initialed CDE is the second largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. As of 2008 its population was of 320,782, the city consists of a large population of Lebanese immigrants, as well as Taiwanese. Guaraní International Airport, located in neighboring city Minga Guazú, serves Ciudad del Este, the city annually attracts thousands of tourists for Black Friday. On a daily basis, many tourists from Brazil cross the border to enter Ciudad del Este, the city is home to Club Atlético 3 de Febrero, counting with the Estadio Antonio Oddone Sarubbi which was used for the 1999 Copa América and is Paraguays third biggest football stadium. Founded in 1957, it was originally called Puerto Flor de Lis, the city is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ciudad del Este. The city, coextensive with the district, is located in south-eastern Paraguay. Part of a known as the Triple Frontier, Ciudad del Este lies in front of the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu. Separated from it by Paraná River, it is linked by the Friendship Bridge, the Argentine border is located between the neighbouring town of Presidente Franco and Puerto Iguazú. Ciudad del Este, along with the towns and districts of Hernandarias, Minga Guazú and Presidente Franco, because of this negative reputation, many Argentine and Brazilian tourists visiting Lake Itaipú and the Iguazú Falls, both on the Paraná River, avoid Ciudad del Este. Ciudad del Este is a multicultural and diverse city and it is home to a large Asian-born population, specifically of Taiwanese, Korean, Lebanese, and Iranian origin, evident in the citys mosques and pagodas. The Taiwanese government paid for the construction of the town hall in exchange for Paraguayan support in the United Nations. From the 1970s, Sunni Muslim Arabs moved to the city and this changed in the 1980s to Shia Muslim Arabs from South Lebanon. CDE was, according to Forbes, the third largest commercial city in the world between 1990 and 2002, the city is the headquarters of the company that operates the nearby Itaipu Dam. Smuggling is an occupation in the city, with some estimates putting the value of this black market at five times the national economy. Some military and intelligence agencies state that there are terrorist organizations in the area, guarani International Airport, located in the suburb city of Minga Guazú, connects the city with other South American destinations. Banco Unión, 3º piso, Oficina 20 Peru – Honorary Consulate, Km 4 ½, Monday, B° Bernardino Caballero Slovakia – Honorary Consulate, Calle Boquerón 310, Edif. 11 de Septiembre 399 Republic of China – Consulate General, Avda. de Lago s/n Barrio Boquerón CP131 Turkey – Honorary Consulate, ubicated near the Estadio Antonio Oddone Sarubbi of the Club Atlético 3 de Febrero, Avda. Bernardino Caballero e/ Cerro León INTERPOL – The city counts with an office of Interpol
3.
Kit (association football)
–
In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
4.
Away colours
–
Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today
5.
Association football
–
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
6.
2007 South American U-20 Championship
–
The 2007 South American Youth Championship is a football competition contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in Paraguay between 7 January and 28 January 2007 and it was the 23rd time the competition has been held and the fourth to take place in Paraguay. Brazil finished undefeated, winning their ninth trophy, the teams are separated in two groups of five, and each team plays four matches in a pure round-robin stage. The three top competitors advance to a final group of six, wherein each team plays five matches. The top four teams in the group qualify to the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. For a list of all the squads in the final tournament, colombia were the defending champions and the only team other than Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay to have won the tournament on more than one occasion. Chile were looking to qualify for the world Youth Championship, they managed to qualify in 2005 with only 5 points from 5 games, this time around they qualified with 6 points from 5 games
7.
Roque Santa Cruz
–
Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero is a Paraguayan footballer who plays as a striker for Primera División Paraguaya club Olimpia Asunción. Santa Cruz represented Paraguay from 1999 to 2016 and he is currently the leading scorer of the Albirroja with 32 goals and is also the sixth Paraguay national team player to reach 100 appearances. Santa Cruz started his career with Olimpia Asunción, progressing through their system to the first-team squad where he made his debut at the age of 15 in 1997. He finished his career with the club having scored 13 goals in 24 Primera División appearances where Olimpia claimed the 1997,1998 and 1999 Primera División titles. He faced a series of injuries and heavy competition from teammates Giovane Élber, Roy Makaay and Claudio Pizarro which limited his impact, Santa Cruz was part of the successful team for Bayern, winning numerous Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and DFB-Ligapokal titles. He also won the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League and the 2001 Intercontinental Cup and he left Bayern Munich in July 2007 to join Blackburn Rovers for a transfer fee of €5 million, where he scored 19 goals in the 2007–08 Premier League season. In June 2009, he joined Manchester City for a fee of £17.5 million on a four-year deal, since his transfer, he was loaned out to Blackburn and Real Betis. A holder of a Spanish passport, Santa Cruz is eligible for unrestricted selection in all EU-based sides, Santa Cruz is ranked equal 75th in the List of top international association football goal scorers by country. He represented Paraguay at the 2002,2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup tournaments, Santa Cruz joined Primera División Paraguaya club Olimpia Asuncións youth academy at the age of nine, where he became the top scorer during several seasons. The club finished in position of their group with ten points. During the first-leg of the match on 27 October, Santa Cruz scored in the 65th minute of Olimpias 4–3 away victory. One week later, Santa Cruz scored a brace for Olimpia as they claimed a 2–1 home victory in the leg on 4 November 1998. His goals came in the 24th and 40th minutes of the first half, all of his three goals, which were headers, were scored against his international teammate Chilavert. The club was eliminated from the competition at the semi-final stage by Palmeiras. During the 1998 Primera División Paraguaya season, Santa Cruz scored three goals in nine appearances as Olimpia were crowned champions of the league, the club had also reached the knock-out stages of the 1998 Copa Libertadores, where they were eliminated by Argentinas Colón. During the 1999 Primera División Paraguaya season, Santa Cruz scored 10 goals in 14 appearances as Olimpia claimed the league title, Santa Cruz participated at the 1999 Copa Libertadores, where Olimpia where drawn in Group 3 with Cerro Porteño, eventual champions Palmeiras and Corinthians. In Olimpia first group match, against Cerro Porteño on 24 February. On 5 March, Santa Cruz played a full 90 minutes in his sides group stage match
8.
Nelson Valdez
–
Valdez started his career with Atlético Tembetary, progressing through their youth system to the first-team squad where he made his debut at the age of 16 in Paraguayan División Intermedia in 2000. He finished his career with the club having scored 11 goals in 22 league appearances, in 2001, he was scouted to Germanys Werder Bremen II, where he scored 15 goals in 30 Regionalliga Nord appearances in his second season before joining the clubs first-team. In 2003, Valdez was selected for the Paraguay under-20 national team where he scored one goal in four appearances at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. In his second season with Werder Bremen, he claimed the 2003–04 Bundesliga and 2003–04 DFB-Pokal, Valdez debuted in the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League on 14 September 2004 and scored his first two Champions League goals in a 2–0 victory against Valencia in December. Valdez left Werder Bremen in August 2006 to join fellow Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund for a fee of €4.7 million on a four-year contract, within that four years, he scored 16 goals in 113 Bundesliga appearances and helped Dortmund qualify for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. He became the most expensive signing in the history and scored a double on his debut in a 2–0 win at the Camp Nou against Barcelona on 11 September. Valdez was later loaned out to Valencia and went on to stints with Al Jazira. In July 2014, Valdez returned to the Bundesliga and signed with Eintracht Frankfurt, Valdez has represented Paraguay at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup tournaments, he also participated at the 2004,2011 and 2015 Copa América tournaments, in 2011 Paraguay finished runners-up. Growing up, Valdez dreamed of playing for the Albirroja, Valdez and his family lived in poverty in the deprived district of San Joaquín, one of the poorest parts of Paraguay. Valdez confessed that he had an excellent childhood and had the joy of being from a loving family. Not owning a football, his skills were developed by playing with an orange or a pair of socks as his family and he first began to play club football when he joined local club 1º de Mayo of the San Joaquín district. Before leaving home, Valdez was to convince his mother to let him play football and his father took his side and Valdez eventually managed to go to Asunción to pursue his dream. I played football during the day and in the evening was drunk, later, Valdez father Antonio spoke with him and looked him in the eyes and then he understood perfectly what he had to do. The second division club were not able to pay him a large enough to earn a living. He never told his parents, who were poor land workers, Valdez stated, For two years I lived under the grandstands, we were 12 or 13 people and some of them only endured two or three weeks. While living 250 kilometres away from his family, Valdez had no home while playing for Tembetary and he worked night shifts in a sawmill to pay for food and drink. He was a 16-year-old exposed to danger and the Paraguayan climate, boiling hot summers and freezing cold winters, but if you have nothing, what can they steal. He bought Valdez a ticket to Germany and got on the phone to Werder Bremen, in December 2001, Valdez flew over to Germany for a trial
9.
Paraguayan football league system
–
The Paraguayan football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for football clubs in Paraguay. At the top is the Primera División or División de Honor with 12 clubs, below the 1st level is the Intermedia. The 4th level is similar, with the Primera División C containing only teams from the Gran Asunción area, the other subdivision is comprised by all 17 federations from each Paraguayan Department, which in turn, contain several regional leagues that cover the whole country
10.
FIFA eligibility rules
–
In the 20th century, FIFA allowed a player to represent any national team, as long as the player held citizenship of that country. FIFA has used its authority to overturn results of competitive matches that feature ineligible players. FIFAs eligibility rules also demand that in mens competitions, only men are eligible to play, historically, it was possible for players to play for different national teams. For example, Alfredo di Stefano played for Argentina and Spain, di Stefanos Real Madrid team-mate Ferenc Puskás also played for Spain after amassing 85 caps for Hungary earlier in his career. Other 20th century examples of players officially representing more than one country – excluding those resulting from changes to geopolitical borders e. g. e, fixtures not recognised by FIFA as full internationals. These caps are not officially recognised due to a dispute between FIFA and the Colombian Football Federation at the time, the first player to do so was Antar Yahia, who played for the France under-18s before representing Algeria in qualifiers for the 2004 Olympic Games. In March 2004, FIFA amended its policy on international eligibility. An emergency FIFA committee ruling judged that players must be able to demonstrate a connection to a country that they had not been born in. Defender Nikola Vujadinović, for example, would be eligible to play for the teams of Serbia or Montenegro. In June 2009, FIFA Congress passed a motion that removed the age limit for players who had played for a countrys national team at youth level to change national associations. This ruling features in Article 18 of the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes, thiago Motta has three caps for Brazil in matches deemed friendlies for Brazil and now represents Italy. Mehdi Carcela-González was born and raised in Belgium, and won two caps for Belgium in official friendly matches before switching to his nation of Morocco in 2011. Diego Costa represented Brazil in 2 friendlies before switching his allegiances to Spain in 2013, apostolos Giannou represented Greece in a friendly in 2015, before switching his allegiances to Australia, making his debut for the latter in March 2016. A FIFA Players Status Committee is responsible for making such judgements, FIFA takes punitive action against teams that field ineligible players. In August 2011, FIFA expelled Syria from the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification process following the appearance of George Mourad in a qualification match against Tajikistan. Mourad had made friendly match appearances for Sweden earlier in his career, after the game, a protest was lodged by their opponents Vanuatu, on the basis that Wynne was not an eligible player. As Wynne was 20 years old, it was impossible for him to have lived in New Zealand for five years after the age of 18. This protest was upheld by the Oceania Football Confederation, resulting in New Zealand being disqualified, there are 25 FIFA member associations that share a common nationality with at least one other FIFA member association
11.
Uruguay
–
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in the southeastern region of South America. It borders Argentina to its west and Brazil to its north and east, with the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. Uruguay is home to an estimated 3.42 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the area of its capital and largest city. With an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometres, Uruguay is geographically the second-smallest nation in South America, only larger in size than Suriname. Uruguay was inhabited by the Charrúa people for approximately 4000 years before the Portuguese established Colonia del Sacramento, one of the oldest European settlements in the region, in 1680. Montevideo was founded as a stronghold by the Spanish in the early 18th century. Uruguay won its independence between 1811 and 1828, following a struggle between Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Brazil. It remained subject to influence and intervention throughout the 19th century. Modern Uruguay is a constitutional republic, with a president who serves as both head of state and head of government. Uruguay is ranked first in Latin America in democracy, peace, lack of corruption, e-government, on a per-capita basis, Uruguay contributes more troops to United Nations peace-keeping missions than any other country. It ranks second in the region on economic freedom, income equality, per-capita income, Uruguay is the third-best country on the continent in terms of HDI, GDP growth, innovation and infrastructure. It is regarded as a country by the UN. Uruguay is also the third-best ranked in the world in e-Participation, Uruguay is an important global exporter of combed wool, rice, soybeans, frozen beef, malt and milk. Nearly 95% of Uruguays electricity comes from energy, mostly hydroelectric facilities. The Economist named Uruguay country of the year in 2013, acknowledging the innovative policy of legalizing the production, sale, the name of the namesake river comes from the Spanish pronunciation of the regional Guarani word for it. There are several interpretations, including bird-river, the name could also refer to a river snail called uruguá that was plentiful in the water. The only documented inhabitants of Uruguay before European colonization of the area were the Charrúa, the Portuguese discovered the region of present-day Uruguay in 1512. The Spanish arrived in present-day Uruguay in 1516, the indigenous peoples fierce resistance to conquest, combined with the absence of gold and silver, limited their settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries
12.
Brazil
–
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
13.
Bruno Renan
–
Bruno Renan Trombelli or simply Bruno Renan is a Brazilian defensive midfielder who currently plays for Pelotas. Bruno Renan joined Grêmio youth academy in 2005, aged 14 and he was sold to Villarreal C. F. alongside Tiago Dutra for around £1.8 million, without playing a single match for the senior team. The club still owns 20% of his rights and he also attracted interest from Chelsea. After featuring in friendlies with the first team, Renan moved to Villarreal B to play in the Segunda División. However, with the full three non-EU quotas, Renan moved back to Grêmio on a loan deal. On 31 August 2010 Bruno moved to Shakhtar Donetsk in a five-year deal and he made his debut for the club in 2-0 away victory over Poltava in the Ukrainian Cup, coming off after 59 minutes for Luiz Adriano. His league debut came in a 1-1 draw with Vorskla Poltava, Bruno Renan was an international for Brazil Under-18 national team. Grêmio Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20,2008 Profile at Official Villarreal C. F, website Video Interview with Bruno Renan
14.
Paraguay
–
Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the country from north to south. Due to its location in South America, it is sometimes referred to as Corazón de Sudamérica. Paraguay is one of the two landlocked countries that lie outside Afro-Eurasia, Paraguay is the smallest landlocked country in the Americas. The indigenous Guaraní had been living in Paraguay for at least a millennium before the Spanish conquered the territory in the 16th century, Spanish settlers and Jesuit missions introduced Christianity and Spanish culture to the region. Paraguay was a colony of the Spanish Empire, with few urban centers and settlers. Following independence from Spain in 1811, Paraguay was ruled by a series of dictators who generally implemented isolationist and protectionist policies and he was toppled in an internal military coup, and free multi-party elections were organized and held for the first time in 1993. A year later, Paraguay joined Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to found Mercosur, as of 2009, Paraguays population was estimated to be at around 6.5 million, most of whom are concentrated in the southeast region of the country. The capital and largest city is Asunción, of which the area is home to nearly a third of Paraguays population. In contrast to most Latin American nations, Paraguays indigenous language and culture, Guaraní, in each census, residents predominantly identify as mestizo, reflecting years of intermarriage among the different ethnic groups. Guaraní is recognized as an official language alongside Spanish, and both languages are spoken in the country. There is no consensus for the derivation or meaning of the name Paraguay, the most common interpretations include, Born from water Riverine of many varieties River which originates a sea Fray Antonio Ruiz de Montoya said that it meant river crowned. The Spanish officer and scientist Félix de Azara suggests two derivations, the Payaguas, referring to the tribe who lived along the river. The French-Argentine historian and writer Paul Groussac argued that it meant river that flows through the sea, Paraguayan poet and ex-president Juan Natalicio González said it meant river of the inhabitants of the sea. Indigenous peoples have inhabited this area for thousands of years, pre-Columbian society in the region which is now Paraguay consisted of semi-nomadic tribes that were known for their warrior traditions. These indigenous tribes belonged to five language families, which was the basis of their major divisions. Differing language groups were generally competitive over resources and territories and they were further divided into tribes by speaking languages in branches of these families. Today 17 separate ethnolinguistic groups remain, the first Europeans in the area were Spanish explorers in 1516. The Spanish explorer Juan de Salazar de Espinosa founded the settlement of Asunción on 15 August 1537, the city eventually became the center of a Spanish colonial province of Paraguay
Justo Jacquet (1994)
Rafael Baiano (2009, 2010–2011)
Leonardo Migliónico (2014–)
Hugo Iriarte (2014)
Thiago França (2011)[6][7]