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 half, the Chaco, virgin forest is lost to cattle ranching at an annual rate of more than 200.000 hectare (2008). Sustainable wood cultivation is now on the increase. The fishing industry in Paraguay exists almost solely to meet domestic demand. Unlike many South American countries, Paraguay has few mineral resources and very little history of mining success. Foreign companies have explored Paraguay in recent years, searching for overlooked mineral deposits. Small extraction projects exist, seeking lime, clay, and the raw materials necessary to make cement, but the country's iron and steel manufacturers must import raw materials from neighboring countries. In