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
San Pedro Department, Paraguay San Pedro Department, Paraguay San Pedro () is a department of Paraguay. The capital is the city of San Pedro de Ycuamandiyú. During the 17th and 18th centuries there was even greater political and population instability than in Concepción. The Mbayá and Payagua native tribes threatened all the area between the Ypané (in the north) and Manduvirá (in the south) Rivers and the valley by the Jejuí River. In 1660 the natives revolted in Arecajá against the postal parcel system, causing the disappearance of this town. To help regenerate this area, the Missions San Estanislao (1749), Villa del Rosario (1786)