부산대학교 도서관

The total land area of Paraguay is 406,752 square km. The country is divided in two major geographical regions, with distinct topography and geology, by the south-flowing Paraguay River. There is a pronounced rainfall gradient right across Paraguay. Mean annual rainfall increases from about 400 mm in the north-west to 1,700 mm in the south-east. In the Chaco, about 80 percent falls in summer, whereas in the south-east comer mean monthly rainfall is more equally distributed, with a slight depression in the driest months, July and August. The growing season lasts from October to March in the Chaco. Typical crops are sorghum, cotton and groundnuts. In eastern Paraguay, arable lands are often cropped twice a year under rainfed conditions, with soybean, cotton or maize, followed by a winter crop, such as temperate cereals. Mean annual temperatures vary from 25.9℃ in the north (Bahia Negra) to 21.4℃ in the north-eastern comer of the oriental region (Pedro Juan Caballero). Summers are hot, even very hot. In winter, night frosts (to an absolute minimum temperature of - 6.0℃) occur, except in the extreme north east. Aerial parts of tropical grasses are generally burnt off by frost. Paraguay is the world` s sixth producer and the fourth largest exporter of soybeans. In the past ten years, the area under soy cultivation more than doubled from 1,870,000 ha in 2004 to 3,500,000 ha in 2014. Paraguay` s major soy producing states are Alto Parana, Itapua and Canindeyu, respectively producing 2,036,618, 1,411,313 and 1,401,086 tonnes soybeans per year. The frontiers of soy expansion are moving towards the center of the country, more precisely in Caazapa, San Pedro and Caaguazu. Agricultural products account for 90% of the value of Paraguayan exports, of which about 57% relates to primary export products such as soy beans, meat and cotton (16.6% of GDP).