City in Alto Paraná, Paraguay
About Ciudad del Este
Ciudad del Este is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km (203 mi) east of Asunción, the capital, and is adjacent to the border with Brazil, to which it is connected by the Friendship Bridge on the Paraná River. It is the largest city within the Triple Frontier region, which borders Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil and Puerto Iguazú, Argentina. The Itaipú Dam, one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in the world, is near Ciudad del Este, as is Iguazu Falls.
History
After the fall of Argentine President Juan Domingo Perón in the 1950s, the government of Alfredo Stroessner took the decision to vigorously promote the so-called "March to the East", seeking to reach the Atlantic Ocean, through Brazil. The main problem encountered in the exit through the Río de la Plata was the excessively expensive freight, which made the exported products commercially uncompetitive. In 1955, the Mixed Paraguayan-Brazilian Commission was set up to boost the highway to the East, and in 1956 a reconnaissance flight was made on Alto Paraná. The construction of a road route to the Paraná River bank was led by Captain Porfirio Pereira Ruiz Díaz, who supervised several army units in the building of a 200-kilometre section from Coronel Oviedo. …
Geography
The city, coextensive with the homonymous district, is located in south-eastern Paraguay. Part of an international tripoint known as the "Triple Frontier", Ciudad del Este lies opposite the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu (state of Paraná). Separated from it by Paraná River, it is linked by the Friendship Bridge. The Argentine border is located between the neighboring town of Presidente Franco and Puerto Iguazú (Misiones Province). Ciudad del Este, along with the towns and districts of Hernandarias, Minga Guazú, and Presidente Franco, forms a metropolitan area named Gran Ciudad del Este (Greater Ciudad del Este). Ciudad del Este is on the international route that connects southeastern Bolivia (Santa Cruz) with southern Brazil. This has contributed to the city's development as a smuggling post between Paraguay and Brazil. The Paraná River borders the city to the east. …
Economy
Ciudad del Este is the second most important city in the country, after Asunción. It gathers 8% of Paraguayan gross domestic product, that is, about 3.5 billion dollars. Some 244 companies there operate in the Services Sector and in the Industrial Sector, among which stand out the manufacture of auto parts, the textile industry, maquilas, industries developer, and others. Since Ciudad del Este does not have rural areas, it does not have any measurable agro-livestock activity of its own, but it does serve as a regional nucleus for other adjacent urban centers which do have agro-livestock activity, such as Hernandarias, Presidente Franco and Minga Guazú. The city has a large food market with more than 800 shops selling fruits, vegetables, and clothing. Ciudad del Este has repeatedly been on the list of notorious markets for infringing goods by the United States Trade Representative. …
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