South America

Paraguay, which has an area of 157,048 sq. mi (406,752 sq. km), is completely landlocked. About half of the country is part of the Gran Chaco, a large plain west of the Paraguay River, which also extends into Bolivia and Argentina. The Gran Chaco is swampy in places, but for the most part consists of scrub land with a few isolated patches of forest. East of the Paraguay river, there is another plain which is covered by forest and seasonal marshes. This region becomes a country of flat plateaus in the easternmost part of Paraguay, most of which are covered with evergreen and deciduous forests.