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Bookmark & shareFacelifts aside, Asunción is still adorned with orange trees and friendly faces.
Paraguay's energetic capital is built on unassuming hills above the Río Paraguay. At heart she is beautiful, with a sprinkling of colonial and beaux-arts buildings. Her glitzy modern demeanor, however, merely shades the old blemishes: shanty shacks, diesel-spewing buses and oppressive humidity.
Asunción's recent construction boom added a seemingly endless stretch of suburbs fit for its population of 1.2 million. Most key sights are bound by the riverfront including Palacio Legislativo and Avenida Colón. Watch out for dengue fever-carrying mosquitos - they're poised to spoil the experience.
Fast Facts
Population
1,200,000
Currency
Name: Guarani
Code: PYG
Symbol: G
Electrical Plugs
220V 50Hz
Languages Spoken
Official: Spanish
Essential: Guaraní
Time Zones
GMT/UTC -4
Country Dialing Code
+595
Weights & Measures
Metric
Related Travel Stories
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Inside the Cheapest City in the World
article by Rob Crossan, September 2007
Asuncion is Paraguay's capital and five times winner of the 'least expensive city on earth' title. But can cheap really mean cheerful? Read the full article ›
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