Nueva Italia, Paraguay Nueva Italia, Paraguay Nueva Italia (Spanish for "New Italy") is a town in the Central Department of Paraguay. Nueva Italia was created in 1904 by the Paraguay government in order to establish some colonists from Italy and their 18 families in a farming area 40 km south of the capital Asunción. However also some German and Ucranian emigrants moved to live there. The first manager-administrator of this "Colonia Nueva Italia" (as was officially named) was the Italian count Enrico Statella. After WW1 many Italians returned to Italy or moved to the capital Asuncion, but the settlement -after an initial crisis-
Economy of Paraguay Economy of Paraguay Paraguay has a market economy highly dependent on agriculture products. In recent years, the economy has grown as a result of increased agricultural exports, especially soybeans. Paraguay has the economic advantages of a young population and vast hydroelectric power but has few mineral resources, and political instability has undercut some of the economic advantages present. The government welcomes foreign investment. Paraguay is a middle-income country that changed rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of hydroelectric development, agricultural colonization, construction, and cash crop exports. Nevertheless, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 1986 was approximately