Amambay

The Amambay department () is a department of Paraguay. The capital is the city of Pedro Juan Caballero. Its ISO 3166-2 code  is PY-13.

The name comes from the name of a part of the Caaguazú Cordillera, the "Amambay Cordillera" (). Amambay (or amambái) means "fern" in Guaraní language; ferns are common in the forests of the region.

History
The town of Pedro Juan Caballero was found in 1893, and Bella Vista, in 1902. The department of Amambay was created in 1945 as the No. 10 department of the country.  After some reorganization it was declared as the No. 13 department.,

Pedro Juan Caballero, the capital of the department, is still known by its old name, Punta Porá, because is near the Punta Porá Hill; that name was used by the people that transported yerba mate from Mato Grosso to Concepción. The BrazilIan municipality across the border, Ponta Porã (Mato Grosso do Sul), keeps the name.

Geography
The Amambay department is in the north part of the Oriental region. It has an area of , with a population of 125,611 for a Population density of .

Amambay is the highest of the Paraguayan departments,  high, and the Punta Porá Hill,  high, is one the highest point in the country.

Limits
 To the north: Brazil, separated by the Apa river and the Amambay Cordillera.
 To the east: Brazil, separated by the Amambay Cordillera.
 To the south: Canindeyú department.
 To the west: Concepción and San Pedro departments.

Rivers
The main rivers in the department are the Apa in the north, and the Ypané and the Aquidabán rivers in the central part of the department.

Climate
, the total amount of precipitation for the year 2012 in the city of Pedro Juan Caballero was . The month with the most precipitation was February with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation was May with .

The average temperature for the year 2012 in Pedro Juan Caballero was . The warmest month, on average, was December with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is July, with an average temperature of .

Districts
The department is divided in 5 districts:

DistrictsArea(km²)Population(2015)DensityBella Vista   Capitán Bado   Pedro Juan Caballero   Zanja Pytá   Karapaí   

Related pages
 Departments of Paraguay
 ISO 3166-2:PY

References

Other websites

 Gobernación de Amambay website 
 Statoids - Departments of Paraguay

Category:Departments of Paraguay