Misiones Department

Misiones Department

Misiones is a county of Paraguay. Its capital city is San Juan Bautista. All this county is marked by the presence of the Jesuit reductions which took place here. In many of its cities we can find museums with rich sacred Jesuits art. Before this department or county had the name of San Ignacio, with the capital of the same name. It is a zone of large cattle farms, which explains the poor characteristic and scarce population of this department.

Districts

The department is divided in the following districts:

1. Ayolas
2. San Ignacio
3. San Juan Bautista de las Misiones
4. San Miguel
5. San Patricio
6. Santa María
7. Santa Rosa
8. Santiago
9. Villa Florida
10. Yabebyry

Location

Misiones is located in the south of the East Region of the country, between the parallels 26 25 and 27 35`of south latitude and between the meridians 56 20 and 57 45 of west length.

Boundaries

Borders :

•North: with Paraguarí y Caazapá.
•South: with the río Paraná which sets the borders with Argentina , specifically with the Province of Corrientes.
•East: with Itapúa.
•West: with Ñeembucú.

Capital

The capital of this department is San Juan Bautista, considered center of the missionary culture. This city is located 196 Km from the capital city of Paraguay, Asuncion. San Juan Bautista is the city where the famous Paraguayan musician Agustin Pio Barrios was born.

Hidrography

The department of Misiones is surrounded by the important rivers Parana and Tebicuary. Each one of them has its effluents. The Tebicuary river has beautiful beaches with white sands, which are ideal for the rest and the sport fishing. There are also a number of streams in the zone, such as the Yabebyry, Atingui, San Roque, Sauce, Uruguay, Ca`a Po`I, Tororo, and San Tadeo, San Antonio, Itay, and others with less water.

History

The population of Misiones began in the XVIII century with the evangelization task of the Jesuits missions, which had been established at the beginning in the ancient Guaira. This deduction emigrated to later be installed between the rivers Tebicuary and Parana, since 1632. When this happened, 7 towns were to be part of Brazil, 15 of them to be part of Argentina and 8 to be part of Paraguay. The towns that remained in the Paraguayan territory were concentrated in the departments of Itapua and Misiones. This locations are: San Ignacio Guazu, Santa Maria de Fe, Santa Rita , Santiago, San Cosme y Damian, Itapua, Trinidad and Jesus. In 1790, the town Yabebyry was founded. The president then was Don Carlos Antonio Lopez, who impulsed the foundation of the following tows: San Miguel and San Juan Bautista de las Misiones. In 1906 the Eight department was created, called San Ignacio, with 8 districts: San Ignacio, Santa Rosa, Santa Maria, San Juan Bautista, San Miguel, Ayolas and Florida. In 1945, this group of towns was transformed into the Department of Misiones, with the capital located in the city of San Juan Bautista, as it is until now.

Economy

The basic economical activity of this department is the cattle breeding. This is the main production . Also they have pigs, sheep, horses and goats, this one is the least. Regarding the agriculture, the fields are mainly in the north and center of the department. In its lands they can grow rice, soya, corn, sweet oranges , sugar cane, sweet potatoes, cotton and potatoes.

Communication and services

Misiones is united with the capital city of Asunción, through its main roads Ruta I Mariscal Francisco Solano Lopez. This route also unites it with the city of Encarnacion, which is the capital city of the department of Itapua.

Water way

The water ways are the Parana River for big ship and Tebicuary for smaller ones.

Air ways

The air transport is made with airplanes of middle size in San Juan Bautista and the island of Yasyreta.

Means of Communication

Misiones has AM radios and FM radios, such as : Radio Ayolas, Libertad, Misiones, San Ignacio and San hurí. They also have TV channels and telephone services.

Education

There are numerous institutions which provide Pre-school Education, Elementary and Highschool . with Technical and Scientific emphasis.

Tourist Attractions

Its main attractions are the beaches formed by the rivers Parana and Tebicuary. Villa Florida is a beautiful city which offers pretty landscapes to its visitors. This department is known by the great work of evangelization by the Jesuits priests who founded the place with many reductions. A few towns still have the remains of this time such as the colonial churches. Part of the historical remains is exposed in the Museums with many samples of wooden carvings made by the Indians at the reductions.

Bibliography and references

•Geografía del Paraguay - Editorial Hispana Paraguay S.R.L.- 1a. Edición 1999 - Asunción Paraguay
•Geografía Ilustrada del Paraguay - ISBN: 99925-68-04-06 - Distribuidora Arami S.R.L.
•La Magia de nuestra tierra. Fundación en Alianza. Asunción. 2007.

External links

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