Guairá Department
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Guairá Department Departamento de Guairá |
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| Department | |||
Villarrica's church
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 Guairá shown in red |
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| Coordinates: 25°45′S 56°26′W / 25.750°S 56.433°WCoordinates: 25°45′S 56°26′W / 25.750°S 56.433°W | |||
| Country |
 Paraguay
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| Region | Eastern Region | ||
| Established | 1570 | ||
| Capital | Villarrica | ||
| Largest city | Villarrica | ||
| Government | |||
| • Governor | Rodolfo Max Friedmann (ANR) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 3,846 km2 (1,485 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 16 | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| • Total | 190,035 | ||
| • Rank | 9 | ||
| • Density | 49/km2 (130/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | AST (UTC-04) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | ADT (UTC-03) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | PY-4 | ||
| Number of Districts | 17 | ||
Guairá (Spanish pronunciation: [gwai̯ˈɾa]) is a department in Paraguay. The capital is the city of Villarrica.
It covers a surface of 3,846 km2 (1,485 sq mi), with a population of 178,130 inhabitants (2002). One can arrive there by taking the Number 8 Blas Garay Road. It was founded on May 14, 1570, by Ruiz Diaz de Melgarejo.
Until circa the 19th century, the departmenti was called La Guayra or Guairá, or also La Pineria (meaning "the Cury forests"); the region was under the jurisdiction of Cabildo de Asunción on the east of the Paraguay River until the line of the Tratado de Tordesillas. This place was also site of the first great Jesuit mission of Guayra, having the borders around the northern limits, the Paranapanema River, or according to other versions, the Tiete River, and the Iguazu River on the south.
It used to be called Guayra o Guaira, a large territory that currently corresponds to the state of Parana. From the 16th to 18th centuries, the Spanish founded cities (Ontiveros, Ciudad Real del Guayra, Villa Rica del Espiritu Santo), and the Jesuits founded some reservations, also under the Spanish jurisdiction, such as San Ignacio Guazu, Santa Maria del Iguazu (which is today Foz do Iguacu) Pirapo, Loreto, etc.
Such cities were devastated by the bandeirantes, and they had to migrate a great part of the population to the west of the Parana River (where Villa Rica was re founded-the current-day Villarica) or to the south of the Iguazu River (where San Ignacio was re founded-with the name of San Ignacio Mini and Loreto among others).
The Guayra Waterfall (or Salto Canendiyu), called Salto das Sete Quedas by the Brazilians, on the Paraná River, almost to the crossing with the parallel 24ªS, was the natural navigation limit of the river. The current-day Paraguayan city called Salto del Guaira, and the Brazilian Guaira, indicate the approximate place where the beautiful and famous waterfalls are, covered by the waters of the Itaipu Dam since the 1980s.
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