Asunción

**Asunción** is the caipital an lairgest ceety in Paraguay. The Spaingie wird *asunción* means *assumption* in Inglis. It refers tae the Assumption o Mary; the full name means *The Vera Noble an Loyal Ceety o Oor Lady Saunt Mary o the Assumption* (Spaingie:*La Muy Noble y Leal Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción*).

The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous caipital destrict no pairt o ony depairtment. The metropolitan aurie, cawed *[[Gran Asunción]]*, includes the ceeties o San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San Antonio, Limpio, Capiatá an Villa Elisa, which are pairt o the Central Depairtment. The Asunción metropolitan aurie haes mair nor 1.8 million indwallers. The Municipality o Asunción is leetit on the Asunción Stock Exchynge, as , a unique featur o ony ceety.

It is the hame o the naitional govrenment, principal port, an the chief industrial an cultural centre o the kintra. Local manufacturin production includes fuitwear, textiles, an tobacco products.

## History
Asunción is ane o the lairgest ceeties in Sooth Americae an the langest continually inhabited aurie in the River Plate Basin; for this reason that it is know as "Mother of Cities". It wis frae here that the colonial expeditions departit tae foond ither ceeties, includin the seicont foondation o Buenos Aires an o ither important ceeties sic as Villarrica, Corrientes, Santa Fe an Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

The site o the ceety mey hae been first visitit bi Spainyie conqueror Juan de Ayolas, on his wey north, up the Paraguay River, leukin for a passage tae the mines o Alto Perú (present-day Bolivie). Later, Juan de Salazar y Espinosa an Gonzalo de Mendoza, relative o Pedro de Mendoza, wur sent in sairch o Ayolas, but wur unable tae find him. On his wey up an then doun the river, de Salazar stopped briefly at a bay in the left bank tae resupply his ships. He foond the natives friendly, an decidit tae foond a fort thare, in August, 1537. As customary, he named it accordin tae the releegious feast o that day: for August 15, *Nuestra Señora de la Asunción* (Oor Lady o the Assumption), honorin the feast day o the Assumption. This fort became a ceety wi the establishment o the *Cabildo* (civilian admeenistration) on 16 September 1541.

In 1541, natives destroyed Buenos Aires, an the Spaniards fled tae Asunción. Sicweys, the ceety became the centre o a lairge Spainyie colonial province comprisin pairt o Brazil, present-day Paraguay an northeastren Argentinae: the Giant Province o the Indies. In 1603 Asunción wis the seat o the First Synod o Asunción, which set guidelines for the evangelization o the natives in thair lingua franca, Guaraní.

In 1731, an uprisin unner José de Antequera y Castro wis ane o the first rebellions against Spaingie colonial rule. The uprisin failed, but it wis the first sign o the independent spirit that wis growin amang the criollos, mestizos an natives o Paraguay. The event influenced the unthirldom o Paraguay, which then materialised in 1811. The secret reunions atween the unthirldom leaders tae plan an ambush against the Spaingie Governor in Paraguay Bernardo de Velasco wur held at the hame o Juana María de Lara, in dountoun Asunción. On the nicht o Mey 14 an Mey 15 the rebels succeedit an wur able tae force governor Velasco tae surrender. The day, Lara's hame is kent as Casa de la Independencia (Hoose o the Independence) an serves as a museum an historical building.

Efter Paraguay became independent, thare wis significant chynge in Asunción. Unner the presidency o Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia roads wur biggit throughoot the ceety an the streets wur named. Housomeivver, it wis durin the presidency o Carlos Antonio López that Asunción (an Paraguay) progressed, as the new preses implementit new economic policies. Mair nor 400 schuils, metallurgic factories an the first railwey service in Sooth Americae wur biggit durin the López presidency. Efter López dee'd, his son Francisco Solano López became the new preses an led the kintra throu the disastrous Paraguayan War that lastit for five years. Efter the War, Asunción wis occupeed bi Brazilian troops till 1876.

Mony historians hae claimed that this war provoked a steady dounfaw o the ceety an kintra, syne it massacred twa thirds o the kintra's population. Progress slowed doun greatly efterwards, an the economy remained stagnatit.

Efter the Paraguayan War, Asunción began a slow recovery attempt. Towards the end o the 19t hunderyear an durin the early years o the 20t hunderyear, a flow o immigrants frae Europe an the Ottoman Empire came tae the ceety. This led tae a chynge in the appearance o the ceety as mony new biggins wur biggit an Asunción went throu a era mair prosperous than ony syne the war.

## Demographics

Population is approximately 520,000 fowk in the ceety proper. Roughly 30% o Paraguay's 6 million fowk live athin Greater Asunción. Saxtie-five percent o the tot population in the ceety ar unner the age o 30.

The population haes increased greatly durin the last few decades as a consequence o internal migration frae ither Depairtments o Paraguay, at first acause o the economic boom in the 1970s, an later acause o economic recession in the kintraside. The adjacent ceeties in the Gran Asunción aurie, sic as Luque, Lambaré, San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Paraguay an Mariano Roque Alonso, hae absorbed maist o this influx due tae the law cost o the land an easy access tae Asunción. The ceety haes ranked as the least expensive ceety tae live in for five years runnin bi Mercer Human Resoorce Consultin.

## Geografie
Asunción is locatit atween the parallels 25º 15' an 25º 20' o sooth latitude an atween the meridians 57º 40' an 57º 30' o wast longitude. The ceety sits on the left bank o the Paraguay River, amaist at the confluence o this river wi the River Pilcomayo. The Paraguay River an the Bay o Asunción in the northwast separate the ceety frae the Occidental Region o Paraguay an Argentinae in the sooth pairt o the ceety. The rest o the ceety is surroondit bi the Central Depairtment.

Wi its location alang the Paraguay River, the ceety affers mony landscapes; it spreads oot ower gentle hills in a pattern o rectangular blocks. Places sic as Cerro Lambaré, a hill locatit in Lambaré, affer a spectacular show in the waretime acause o the blossomin lapacho trees in the aurie. Pairks sic as Parque Independencia an Parque Carlos Antonio López affer lairge auries o teepical Paraguayan vegetation an ar frequentit bi tourists. Thare ar several sma hills an slichtly elevatit auries throughoot the ceety, includin Cabará, Clavel, Tarumá, Cachinga, an Tacumbú, amang ithers.

### Destricts an neebourheids
Asunción is organisit geographically intae destricts an thir in turn bring thegither the different neebourheids.

### Climate

Asunción featurs a humid subtropical climate. Asunción generally haes a relatively short dry saison that spans frae Juin tae September an a wet saison that covers the remainder o the year. The climate o Asunción can be describit as het an humid for maist o the year. Durin the wet saison, Asunción is generally het an humid tho towards the end o this saison, it becomes noticeably ceuler. In contrast, Asunción's dry saison is pleasantly mild.

## Eddication
The leeteracy rate is 95 percent, the hichtest in Paraguay. The nummer o schuils haes doobled syne 1982. Student nummers hae doobled syne 1962.

### Schuils
The ceety haes a lairge nummer o baith public an private schuils. The best-kent public schuils ar the Colegio Nacional de la Capital (which is ane o the auldest schuils in the ceety, foondit efter the Triple Alliance War in 1877), Colegio Presidente Franco an Colegio Nacional Asunción Escalada. The best-kent private schuils ar Colegio Inmaculado Corazón de María, Salesianito, Colegio Cristo Rey (a Jesuit private schuil), Colegio Internacional (an American missionary schuil), Colegio San José (Catholic schuil), Colegio Santa Teresa de Jesús (Catholic schuil) American School o Asunción, Colegio Dante Alighieri (Italian private schuil), Colegio Santa Clara (Franciscan School), Colegio Goethe (German schuil), Pan American International School (American-creditit an awardit bi the American Buird o Accreditation), Colegio de la Asunción an Colegio Campoalto (Catholic schuils)

### Universities

The main varsities in the ceety ar the Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (private Catholic varsity) an the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (state-run). The Católica haes a sma campus in the dountoun aurie next tae the Cathedral an a lairger campus in the Santa Ana neighborhood, ootwards toward the adjoinin ceety o Lambaré, while the Universidad Nacional haes its main campus in the ceety o San Lorenzo, some 5&nbsp;km eastward frae Asunción. Thare ar an aa a nummer o smawer privately run varsities sic as Uninorte, Universidad Americana an Universidad Autónoma de Asunción, amang ithers.

## Economy
Awtho the economically active population o Asunción haes no increased significantly in the last 10 years, it haes doubled syne 1962.

The industrial distribution o the economically active population show that the tertiary (business an services) sector is the maist important, employin 8 oot o 10 o aw economically active fowk.  The seicontary sector (manufacturin an construction) employs 16% o the active population, while the primary sector (farmin) is practically nan-existent, as Asunción is a completely urban destrict.

In terms o commerce, it shoud be notit that this sector haes grown considerably in recent years stretchin towards the suburbs whaur shoppin malls an supermercats hae been biggit.

Paraguay's anerlie stock exchynge, the BVPASA, is locatit here. The ceety itsel is leetit on it, as .

In Julie 2008, Asunción wis foond tae be the "cheapest ceety in the warld" bi Mercer.

## Transportation

Acause the Paraguay River runs richt next tae Asunción the ceety is served bi a river terminal in the dountoun aurie. This port is strategically locatit inside a bay an it is whaur maist freight enters an leaves the kintra. Thare is a lesser terminal in the Sajonia neighbourhuid, an a shuttle port in Ita Enramada, amaist opposite the Argentine ceety o Clorinda.

Public transportation is uised hivilie an is served throu buses that reach aw the regions o the ceety an surroodin dormitory communities. The main lang-distance bus terminal is on the Avenida República Argentina an its bus services connect aw o the Depairtments o Paraguay, as well as internaitional routes tae nearbi kintras sic as Argentinae, Brazil, Bolivie an Uruguay.

Asunción is served bi the Silvio Pettirossi Interniational Airport locatit in the ceety o Luque.

### Air

**[[Silvio Pettirossi International Airport]]**  is Paraguay's main naitional an internaitional gateway, locatit at Luque, suburb o the caipital Asunción. It is named efter the Paraguayan aviator Silvio Pettirossi an wis umwhile kent as Presidente Stroessner Internaitional Airport, efter Paraguay's umwhile dictator General Alfredo Stroessner.

## Tourist attractions

The ceety is hame tae the Godoi Museum an the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (which contains auld pentins frae the 19t century), the Kirk o La Encarnación an the Metropolitan Cathedral, an the Naitional Pantheon o the Heroes, a smawer version o Les Invalides in Paris, whaur mony o the naition's heroes ar entombed. Ither laundmerks include the Palacio de los López, the auld Senate building (a modren biggin opened tae hoose Congress in 2003), the Catedral Metropolitana an the Casa de la Independencia (ane o the few examples o colonial airchitectur remainin in the ceety).





Calle Palma is the main street dountoun whaur several historical biggins, plazas, shops, restaurants an cafes ar locatit. The "Manzana de la Rivera", locatit in front o the Presidential Palace, is a series o auld traditional hames that hae been restored an serve as a museum showcasin the airchitectural evolution o the ceety. The auld railwey station maintains the auld trains that nou ar uised in tourist trips tae the ceeties o Luque an Areguá.

Asunción an aa haes luxurious malls that contain shops sellin well-kent brands. The biggest shopping malls ar Shopping del Sol, which includes a Macy's-style depairtment store; Mariscal López Shopping, Shopping Villa Morra in the central pairt o the ceety, an the Mall Excelsior dountoun.

## Sports an entertainment
fitbaa is the main sport in Paraguay, an Asunción is home tae some o the maist important an traditional soccer teams lik Olimpia, Cerro Porteño an Club Libertad, Club Nacional, Club Guaraní, Club Sol de América, which hae thair awn stadiums an sport facilities for affiliated members. The Defensores del Chaco stadium is the main fitbaa stadium o the kintra an is locatit in the neighbourhood o Sajonia, juist a few minutes away frae the centre o Asunción. Syne it is a naitional stadium whiles it is uised for ither activities sic as rock concerts.

The nichtlife revolves aroond twa auries: ane in the dountoun pairt o the ceety an the ither in the neighbourhoods o Manora an Las Carmelitas, a strip full o nichtclubs an bars.

As it haes been happenin in mony ither pairts o the warld, cinemas hae migratit intae the main shoppin malls.

Asunción an aa host several symphony orchestras, an ballet, opera an theater companies. The maist weel kent orchestras ar the Ceety o Asunción's Symphony Orchestra (OSCA), the Naitional Symphony Orchestra an the Northren Varsity Symphony Orchestra. Amang professional ballet companies, maist renowned ar the Asunción Classic an Modren Municipal Ballet, the Naitional Ballet an the Northren Varsity Ballet. The main opera company is the Northren Varsity Opera Company. A lang-standin theater company is Arlequín Theater Foundation's. Traditional venues include the Municipal Theater, the Paraguayan-Japanese Center, the Central Bank's Great Lyric Theater, the Juan de Salazar Cultural Center, the Americaes Theater, the Tom Jobim Theater, the Arlequín Theater an the Manzana de la Rivera.

## Interniational relations

### Twin touns — Sister ceeties
Asunción is twinned wi:

*  Rosario, Argentinae
*  La Plata, Argentinae,
*  Buenos Aires, Argentinae
*  Formosa, Argentinae
*  Corrientes, Argentinae
*  Resistencia, Argentinae
*  Posadas, Argentinae
*  Santa Fe, Argentinae
*  Iquique, Chile
*  Campinas, Brazil
*  Curitiba, Brazil
*  São Paulo, Brazil
*  Caracas, Venezuela, 1982
*  Trujillo, Peru
*  Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
*  Chiba, Japan
*  Madrid, Spain
*  Taipei, Taiwan
*  Bogotá, Colombie
*  Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivie
*  Ciudad de México, Mexico
*  Puebla, Mexico, 2009

## References

## Freemit airtins

* 3dLatinamerica.com  Mony 3-dimensional hicht-quality images o Asunción an ither ceeties in Latin Americae (an aa viewable in standard 2-D)
* Senatur Asunción Info (in Spaingie)
* Map of downtown area an a downloadable cairt o the ceety (part 1)
* Municipality of Asunción