Paraguay? Because I Said So Trivia Quiz

Answer: Uruguay

Along with Bolivia, Paraguay is one of the only landlocked South American countries, with Argentina to the south, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. The four countries share the lowland forest region of the Gran Chaco; the Paraguayan Chaco is in the west of the country.

The Gran Chaco has been a source of dispute between Paraguay and Bolivia, with the Chaco War being fought from 1932 to 1935, as oil had been found in the Andean foothills and both countries believed the Gran Chaco to be a potential source of oil.

The war ended with Paraguay gaining two-thirds of the territory, but the war was a disaster for both sides, with the spread of disease and the harsh terrain causing extra danger and death.

Answer: Guarani

The Guaraní are an indigenous people who live in Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia, and they speak the Guaraní language. Many Guaraní today are descended from Guaraní who lived on Christian missions when the Spanish colonised Paraguay. Paraguayan Guaraní is from the Tupian family and is spoken by the majority of Paraguayans; many rural Paraguayans only speak Guaraní and not Spanish, making it a rare example of a widely spoken indigenous American language in that it has resisted language shift. Spanish tends to be used more in business, though.

When Paraguay became a democracy in 1992, Guaraní was given equal status with Spanish in the new constitution. Jopará is a mixture of Spanish and Guaraní, similar to Spanglish.

Answer: No

In the same way that a maned wolf isn't actually a wolf, the Pampas fox is not a 'true' fox, and actually looks more similar to a coyote. It is a 'zorro', a type of South American fox that is more closely related to jackals and wolves, and comes from the Lycalopex genus rather than the Vulpes genus like red foxes.

It has grey fur on its body and a reddish tinge to the fur on its head and neck; Pampas foxes in northern areas are more richly coloured. As its name suggests, its preferred habit is the pampas, though it can also be found in the Gran Chaco region and the mountainous forests of the Andes.

It eats an omnivorous diet.

Answer: Polka

When you think of polka, Paraguay is probably not a country where you'd expect it to be popular, but polka took off in Paraguay in the 19th century and a regional variant developed, albeit with some idiosyncrasies. Dancers link arms and dance in pairs, and it's particularly popular in rural areas. Paraguayan polka also contains polyrhythms, with the bassline using ternary rhythms and the melody using binary rhythms, and polka musicians play traditional instruments such as the Paraguayan harp. The lyrics often tend to be about national or indigenous pride. Female Paraguayan polka dancers wear dresses with full skirts, and sometimes even balance pitchers on their heads!

(Comedian Weird Al Yankovic has covered various songs in a polka style.)

Answer: The Jesuits

Paraguay, like many South American countries, is predominantly Roman Catholic. The city of Caacupé in Cordillera is a Catholic pilgrimage site, home to the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Miracles; according to local legend, a Guaraní Indian prayed to the Virgin Mary to protect him from a rival tribe, offering to carve a statue of her from the three trunk in return.

Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay founded 30 reductions in the 17th century in order to convert indigenous Guaraní people to Christianity, and create a 'state within a state' that would protect them from the Spanish colonisers who were forcing them into crowded urban settlements, or to work as slaves under the encomienda system. Paraguay's first Jesuit reduction was founded in San Ignacio Guazú in 1609. However, it did not last; the Jesuits were expelled from Paraguay in 1767, as part of a larger directive to remove Jesuits from overseas colonies. The reductions fell into decline over time, with many Guaraní inhabitants leaving.

Answer: Hydropower

Paraguay does import oil, but has no reserves of oil or natural gas; its sole oil refinery is operated by Petropar, the Paraguayan national oil company. Hydropower is the main source of Paraguay's energy and it shares two hydroelectric dams with its neighbours: the Yacyreta Dam with Argentina and the Itaipu Dam - which provides Paraguay with most of its hydroelectricity - with Brazil.

When the latter was built, 10,000 families living by the Paraná River were forced to relocate, and the Guaíra Falls, a series of waterfalls, were submerged under the artificial lake created for the reservoir.

In 1982, tourists rushed to see the falls before they disappeared and a bridge collapsed, killing 80 people.

Answer: Gabriel Casaccia

Benigno Gabriel Casaccia Bibolini, aka Gabriel Casaccia, was a law graduate of Italian descent, who was born in Asunción, but moved to Argentina. He started out as a journalist before moving into writing fiction and plays. One of his most famous novels was the 1952 novel 'La Babosa' ('The Slug'), which many Paraguayans disliked because of its unlikeable protagonists, such as the alcoholic, womanising hero Ramón Fleitas, and the negative portrayal of most of the Paraguayan characters. Many of Casaccia's heroes, Ramón Fleitas included, were 'coiguás', country boys who moved to the big city, but who never quite gave up their rustic ways.

(Jorge Luis Borges was Argentinian, Gabriel García Márquez was Colombian and Mario Vargas Llosa was Peruvian.)

Answer: Alfredo Stroessner

Alfredo Stroessner was a general and Commander in Chief of the Paraguayan Armed Forces, who came to power in 1954 in a military coup after Federico Chávez was forced to resign. His dictatorship was known as 'Stronismo' and lasted for 34 years. The Colorado Party nominated Stroessner as their candidate, hoping he would be a temporary solution; instead, Stroessner consolidated his position by placing allies in positions of power and declaring a state of siege, meaning the government had the power to ban demonstrations and arrest people without trial. In 1967, he introduced a new constitution that enabled him to re-elect himself.

Under Stroessner, dissent was crushed by the secret police and private militias, and Nazi war criminals saw Paraguay as a safe haven because of Stroessner's hardcore anti-Communist stance. Thousands of people were murdered, including the indigenous Aché people in a US-sponsored genocide, and several others imprisoned or 'disappeared'. In 1975, Paraguay was a participant in Operation Condor, a joint exercise between the dictatorships of Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia and Argentina, which saw dissidents being kidnapped, tortured and murdered, with bodies being dumped in the Chaco Basin. Stroessner was overthrown in 1989 in a coup led by Andrés Rodríguez, his former ally and confidante, and was subsequently exiled to Brazil, where he died in 2006.

Answer: A type of bread made from manioc/corn and cheese

Chipa is a yellow bread made from manioc and/or corn starch, egg, fat, anise and cheese, and is sold as a street food at stands or by vendors who carry baskets of chipa on buses. It is usually shaped like a ring doughnut or a ball. There are several variants of chipa; for instance, chipa so'o is stuffed with meat, chipa manduví contains peanuts, and chipa guasu contains onions and sweetcorn. A similar bread is the Brazilian pão de queijo, a cheese roll.

The other answers are all Paraguayan dishes. Milanesa de surubí is a fried cutlet made with surubí, a type of catfish. Vori vori is a soup with corn and cheese balls. Chicharrón, or chicharô, is fried pork belly. Similar to Argentina, barbecues are popular in Paraguay, as is mate, a herbal tea drunk through a straw (football fans may have seen Argentina's Lionel Messi drinking it).

Answer: He scored several outfield goals

While you might see the odd goalkeeper scoring a penalty, very few of them score outfield goals, i.e. when they leave their six-yard box and run up the pitch to the opponent's goal. Jose Luis Chilavert didn't just save goals, he scored them, and is not only considered to be one of Paraguay's greatest footballers of all time, but is one of the highest-scoring goalkeepers in football history.

By the time he retired in 2004, he had scored 67 goals. He was the first goalkeeper to score a hat trick, and scored eight goals in international competitions.

At Vélez Sarsfield, an Argentinian club based in Buenos Aires, Chilavert racked up 36 goals, including said hat trick. He was awarded the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper Award, aka the Golden Glove Award, in 1995, 1997 and 1998.