Paraguay Río de la Plata to the Paraná River, and finally up the Paraguay River. In 1537, they established the city of Asunción, which was the first capital of the Governorate of Paraguay and Río de la Plata. Paraguay was the epicenter of the Jesuit Missions, where the Guaraní people were educated and introduced to Christianity and European culture under the direction of the Society of Jesus in Jesuit reductions, mainly during the 17th century. However, after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories in 1767, Paraguay increasingly became a peripheral colony, with few urban centers and settlers. Following independence
Geography of Paraguay Paraná; the mountain chain has an average height of . Separated from the Eastern region by the Paraguay River, the Chaco region is a vast plain with elevations reaching no higher than and averaging . Covering more than 60 percent of Paraguay's total land area, the Chaco plain slopes gently eastward to the Río Paraguay. The Paraguayan Chaco is subdivided into two parts. The "Alto Chaco" (Upper Chaco), also called "Chaco Seco" (Dry Chaco) is the western three-quarters of the region, bordering on Bolivia, while the "Bajo Chaco" (Lower Chaco) or "Chaco Húmedo" (Humid Chaco) borders on the Paraguay River.