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Landscape in the Gran Chaco, Paraguay

The Gran Chaco (Quechua chaqu, "hunting land"), dubbed by some as "the last South American frontier", is a sparsely populated, hot and semi-arid lowland region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided between Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina and a portion of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.

Very approximate location and borders of the Gran Chaco. The natural border to the west is the Andes and, to the east, the Paraguay River. Northern and southern borders are a bit less well-defined. (Underlying map taken from the CIA World Factbook)

The Chaco is about 647,500 square kilometres in size, though estimates differ, and located west of the Paraguay River and east of the Andes, near the Altiplan plateau in Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina. It stretches from about 17° to 33° South latitude and between 65° and 60° West longitude, though estimates differ in this case too. Closer to the mountains in the west, the Alto Chaco, or Dry Chaco, is very dry and sparsely vegetated, but going eastward to the Bajo Chaco, or Humid Chaco, one encounters lots of thornbrush jungle with quebracho trees and grassy clearings with a wealth of insects. The landscape is mostly flat and slopes at a 0.04 degree gradient to the east. This area is also one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the Parana-Paraguay Plain division.

The area is mostly inhabitable only in the east and west of the Paraguay River. It is a great source of timber and tannin, which is derived from the native quebracho tree. Special tannin factories have been constructed there. The wood of the palo santo from the Central Chaco, is the source of oil of guaiac (a fragrance for soap). Paraguay also cultivated mate in the lower part of the Chaco..

Gran Chaco was a disputed territory since 1810. Officially, it was supposed to be part of Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay, although a bigger land portion west of the Paraguay river corresponded to Paraguay since its independence. Argentina claimed territories south of the Bermejo River. However, Bolivia began to push the natives out and settle there while Paraguay ignored it. It was the scene of The Gran Chaco War (1932-1935) (though violence started as early as December 5, 1928) between Paraguay and Bolivia over supposed oil in the Chaco Boreal (a region north of the Pilcomayo River and to the west of the Paraguay River). Bolivia sought the Paraguay River for shipping oil out into the sea (it had become a land-locked country after the loss of its Pacific coast in the War of the Pacific) and Paraguay claimed ownership of the land. Eventually, a treaty was signed in 1938 which gave Paraguay three quarters of Chaco Boreal and gave Bolivia a corridor to the Paraguay River with the ability to use the Puerte Cosado and the right to construct their own port. In the end, oil was not found there.

Mennonites came into the Paraguayan part of the region from Canada in the 1920s; more came from the USSR in the 1930s, and even more from the USSR after World War II. They created some of the largest population centers in the Gran Chaco.

In the 1960s the trans-Chaco highway was built.

The Gran Chaco has some of the highest temperatures on the continent

The ecosystems of the Gran Chaco are unique, and were little understood by scientists until recent years. These ecosystems are slowly being destroyed by civilization with the introduction of cattle, burning of vegetation and irresponsible agricultural decisions. Many groups are trying to protect this unique set of ecosystems.

The Chacoan Peccary (Catagonus wagneri), which was discovered in the 1970’s, is a large mammal endemic to the Chaco. The Chaco is a center of Armadillo diversity, with at least eight species in the Argentinean Chaco and ten species in the Paraguayan Chaco.

In September 1995, the Kaa Iya del Gran Chaco National Park was established in an area of the Chaco in Bolivia. It is administered and was established solely by the indigenous peoples which include the Izoceño Guaraní, the Ayoreode, and the Chiquitano.

• Alto Paraguay Department, Paraguay
• Boquerón Department, Paraguay
• Catamarca Province, Argentina
• Chaco Province, Argentina
• Chuquisaca Department, Bolivia
• Córdoba Province, Argentina
• Formosa Province, Argentina
• Jujuy Province, Argentina
• La Rioja Province, Argentina
• Presidente Hayes Department, Paraguay
• Salta Province, Argentina
• Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia
• Santa Fe Province, Argentina
• Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina
• Tarija Department, Bolivia
• Tucumán Province, Argentina

• Abipón - no longer exist
• Ayoreo
• Chamacoco
• Chiquitano
• Enxet
• Enlhet
• Guana
• Pai Tavytera
• Sanapaná
• Ava Guaraní
• Mbyá
• Simba Guaraní
• Guarayo
• Kaiwá
• Chiripá
• Chané
• Tapieté
• Maskoy
• Wichí
• Nivaclé
• Chorote
• Mocoví
• Pilagá
• Toba
• Maká
• Yuqui

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Gran Chaco

• The National Museum of Natural History's description of Gran Chaco
• Chaco ecoregion (World Wildlife Fund)
• Humid Chaco ecoregion (World Wildlife Fund)
• Food and Agriculture Oranization of the United Nations' description of the Gran Chaco - focuses mainly on agriculture.
• Some stamps showing the dispute over the Gran Chaco before the war - some people claim this was the spark that ignited the war
• photos of the Paraguay Chaco

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