17 departments + 1 capital district
All regions of Paraguay. Detailed guide for each.
Paraguay is bigger than Germany but holds 7 million people. Most foreigners look at Asunción, see the capital is small, and assume the rest of the country has even less to offer — but the reality is more interesting. Beach cities, Mennonite cooperatives, German colonies, soya plantations, Pantanal wetlands, hill-country chácaras. The map below colors each department by where expats actually settle. Click any region for the full breakdown.
Pick a region
Click any department on the map for its full guide. Switch the dataset to compare by rent, healthcare, or internet quality.
Concentration of foreign-born residents based on residency-permit issuance and expat-group surveys. · Click any region for the full guide.
Eastern region
Where 99% of Paraguayans live.
The Eastern region — east of the Paraguay River — holds 14 departments and Asunción, on roughly 40% of the national territory. This is where the country’s cities, infrastructure, and population concentrate.
Areguá
Central
Where most relocators end up.
Read guide →Asunción
Asunción
The capital, the only real city.
Read guide →Ciudad del Este
Alto Paraná
Triple frontier, dollar economy.
Read guide →Encarnación
Itapúa
Beach city, Jesuit ruins, lowest crime.
Read guide →Caacupé
Cordillera
Hills, lakes, weekend escape.
Read guide →Paraguarí
Paraguarí
Hills, wetlands, cheap land.
Read guide →Coronel Oviedo
Caaguazú
Highway country, soy + cattle.
Read guide →Concepción
Concepción
River north, slow rhythm.
Read guide →Villarrica
Guairá
Villarrica, the polite small city.
Read guide →San Juan Bautista
Misiones
Jesuit ruins, grassland, estancias.
Read guide →Pedro Juan Caballero
Amambay
Brazil-twin, dual-currency.
Read guide →Salto del Guairá
Canindeyú
Brazilian-leaning soy country.
Read guide →San Pedro de Ycuamandyyú
San Pedro
Big, rural, sparse.
Read guide →Caazapá
Caazapá
Rural Guaraní south.
Read guide →Pilar
Ñeembucú
Wetland triangle, Pilar riverport.
Read guide →
Western region (Chaco)
Vast, dry, sparsely populated.
The Chaco — the western 60% of Paraguay’s land area — holds three departments and just over 200,000 people. Cattle, Mennonite cooperatives, indigenous reserves, salt pans, jaguars. For the right kind of relocator (rancher, researcher, off-grid) it is genuinely cheap and unspoiled; for everyone else, too remote.
Not sure where to settle?
Take the residency quiz. We'll route you to the right region.
The 7-question eligibility quiz also flags which regions match your situation — capital level, family size, healthcare needs, internet requirement, language preferences. About 90 seconds.