Gran Chaco
Gran Chaco is a hot tropical region with a semi-desert landscape in the Paraná River Basin, sometimes referred to as the “last frontier of South America”. The Gran Chaco covers an area of about 647,500 km², west of the Paraguay River and east of the Andes mountain range in Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina.
Geography
The region stretches from approximately 17° to 33° south latitude and 65° to 60° west longitude. The western part of the region near the Andes is referred to as the High Chaco or Dry Chaco (Alto Chaco) and is characterized by dry, low-growing extremely sparse vegetation. The eastern part, the Lower Chaco (Bajo Chaco), also the Wet Chaco, is covered with kebracho thickets and abundant with insects. Overall, the region’s landscape is flat, sloping at an angle of 0.04 degrees to the east.
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From north to south, the region is divided into Chaco Boreal, Chaco Central, and Chaco Austral.
.Nature
The flora and fauna of Gran Chaco is typical of the steppe and forested subtropical plain between the rivers of the Amazon lowlands and La Plata, also irrigated by the Salado, Bermejo and Pilcomayo rivers; the autochthonous population of the region are nomadic and semi-nomadic Aymara and Guaraní Indians; nowadays there are a large number of mestizos and Creoles, with small groups of European settlers from the time of European colonization and immigration. The center of the Gran Chaco is occupied by the state of Paraguay.
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