Editing Paraguay (section)

==Government and politics==
{{Main|Politics of Paraguay|Human rights in Paraguay|Foreign relations of Paraguay}}
Paraguay is a [[representative democratic]] republic, with a [[multi-party system]] and [[separation of powers]] across three branches. Executive power is exercised solely by the [[President of Paraguay|President]], who is [[head of state]] and [[head of government]]. [[Legislative power]] is vested in the two chambers of the [[Congress of Paraguay|National Congress]]. The [[Judicial Branch|judiciary]] is vested on [[tribunals]] and Courts of [[Civil Law (legal system)|Civil Law]] and a nine-member Supreme Court of Justice, all of them independent of the executive and the legislature.

Since the end of the [[Paraguayan Civil War (1947)|1947 civil war]], the country's politics have generally been [[Dominant-party system|dominated]] by the conservative [[Colorado Party (Paraguay)|Colorado Party]].

===Military===
{{main|Armed Forces of Paraguay}}
[[File:Paraguayan marines at Ancon Marine Base 2010-07-19.JPG|thumb|Paraguayan marines at Ancon Marine Base]]
The [[Armed Forces of Paraguay|military of Paraguay]] consist of an [[army]], [[navy]] (including [[naval aviation]] and [[Marines|marine corps]]) and [[air force]]. [[constitution of Paraguay|Paraguay's constitution]] establishes the [[president of Paraguay]] as [[commander-in-chief]] of the armed forces.<ref>{{cite web|title=Constitution of 1992|url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Paraguay/|access-date=18 December 2017}}</ref>

Paraguay has [[Conscription|compulsory military service]]; all 18-year-old males, as well as 17-year-old males in the year of their 18th birthday, are liable for one year of [[active duty]]. While the constitution allows for [[Conscientious objector|conscientious objection]], no enabling legislation has yet been approved.

Paraguay has partnered with Argentina, Brazil, and the United States in regional anti-terrorism and anti-narcotics efforts.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Relations With Paraguay|url=https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-paraguay/|access-date=3 December 2020|website=United States Department of State|archive-date=1 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110601071053/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1841.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2005, U.S. [[special forces]] began arriving at Paraguay's [[Mariscal Estigarribia]] air base to support joint training and humanitarian operations<ref>{{Cite news |title=U.S. military moves in Paraguay rattle regional relations |publisher=[[International Relations Center]] |date=14 December 2005 |url=http://americas.irc-online.org/am/2991|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612192202/http://americas.irc-online.org/am/2991 |archive-date=12 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Clarin">{{cite news |url=http://www.clarin.com/suplementos/zona/2005/09/11/z-03615.htm |title=U.S. marines put a foot in Paraguay |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327063628/http://www.clarin.com/suplementos/zona/2005/09/11/z-03615.htm |archive-date=27 March 2009 |newspaper=[[Clarín (Argentine newspaper)|El Clarín]] |date=9 September 2005 |language=es}}</ref> In 2019, Asuncion hosted the first meeting of the Regional Security Mechanism (RSM), which promotes cooperation between Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, and the U.S. in addressing [[transnational crime]] and terrorism in the "triple frontier" region.<ref>{{cite web |date=13 November 2019 |title=Expert meeting of the Regional Security Mechanism (RSM) in Asuncion |url=https://py.usembassy.gov/expert-meeting-of-the-regional-security-mechanism-rsm-in-asuncion/ |access-date=3 December 2020 |website=U.S. Embassy in Paraguay |archive-date=25 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025080332/https://py.usembassy.gov/expert-meeting-of-the-regional-security-mechanism-rsm-in-asuncion/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Paraguay is the 73rd most peaceful country in the world, according to the 2024 [[Global Peace Index]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GPI-2024-web.pdf|title=2024 Global Peace Index|accessdate=18 September 2024}}</ref>

===Administrative divisions===
{{Main|Departments of Paraguay|Districts of Paraguay}}
Paraguay consists of seventeen departments and one capital district (''distrito capital'').

It is also divided into two regions: The "Occidental Region" or Chaco (Boquerón, Alto Paraguay and Presidente Hayes), and the "Oriental Region" (the other departments and the capital district).

These are the departments, with their capitals, population, area and the number of districts: 
{{Paraguay labelled map}}
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%; text-align:center"
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
! style="vertical-align: middle"|[[ISO 3166-2:PY]]
! style="vertical-align: middle"|Department
! style="vertical-align: middle"|'''Capital'''
! style="vertical-align: middle"|'''Population (2022 census)'''<ref name=population/>
! style="vertical-align: middle"|'''Area (km<sup>2</sup>)'''
! style="vertical-align: middle"|'''Districts'''
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|ASU||[[Capital District (Paraguay)|Distrito Capital]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Asunción]]||462,241||117||1
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|1||[[Concepción Department (Paraguay)|Concepción]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Concepción, Paraguay|Concepción]]||206,181||18,057||14
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|2||[[San Pedro Department, Paraguay|San Pedro]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[San Pedro, Paraguay|San Pedro]]||355,175||20,007||23
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|3||[[Cordillera Department|Cordillera]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Caacupé]]||268,037||4,953||20
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|4||[[Guairá Department|Guairá]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Villarrica, Paraguay|Villarrica]]||179,555||3,991||18
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|5||[[Caaguazú Department|Caaguazú]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Coronel Oviedo]]||431,519||11,479||22
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|6||[[Caazapá Department|Caazapá]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Caazapá]]||139,479||9,503||11
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|7||[[Itapúa]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Encarnación, Paraguay|Encarnación]]||449,642||16,536||30
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|8
|[[Misiones Department|Misiones]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[San Juan Bautista, Paraguay|San Juan Bautista]]||111,142||9,568||10
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|9
|[[Paraguarí Department|Paraguarí]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Paraguarí]]||200,472||8,710||18
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|10||[[Alto Paraná Department|Alto Paraná]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Ciudad del Este]]||763,702||14,898||22
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|11||[[Central Department|Central]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Areguá]]||1,883,927||2,665||19
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|12||[[Ñeembucú]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Pilar, Paraguay|Pilar]]||76,719||12,155||16
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|13||[[Amambay]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay|Pedro Juan Caballero]]||179,412||12,935||6
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|14||[[Canindeyú]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Salto del Guairá]]||191,114||14,677||16
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|15||[[Presidente Hayes]]||style="text-align:left;"|[[Villa Hayes]]||123,313||72,917||10
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|16||[[Alto Paraguay]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Fuerte Olimpo]]||17,195||82,394||4
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|17||[[Boquerón Department|Boquerón]]
|style="text-align:left;"|[[Filadelfia, Paraguay|Filadelfia]]||71,078||91,676||4
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|–||'''Paraguay'''
|style="text-align:left;"|'''[[Asunción]]'''||'''6,109,903'''||'''406,796'''||'''273'''
|}