Ñeembucú

Ñeembucú (Guaraní: Ñe'ẽmbuku) is a department located in the south of the Eastern Region of Paraguay. The capital is Pilar. The department is almost entirely rural, and is home to some of the oldest and best-preserved Jesuit ruins, which are located near the town of Humaitá.

Districts
The department is divided in 16 districts:


 * 1) Alberdi
 * 2) Cerrito
 * 3) Desmochados
 * 4) General José Eduvigis Díaz
 * 5) Guazú Cuá
 * 6) Humaitá
 * 7) Isla Umbú
 * 8) Laureles
 * 9) Mayor José J. Martinez
 * 10) Paso de Patria
 * 11) Pilar
 * 12) San Juan Bautista del Ñeembucú
 * 13) Tacuaras
 * 14) Villa Franca
 * 15) Villa Oliva
 * 16) Villalbín



Land
The terrain in Ñeembucú is markedly flat, covered mostly in flat, grassy fields only broken by the occasional wetland swamp or green "monte". Montes, despite their name, are not mountains at all, but patches of dense trees and brush that provide shade to the cattle who graze on the flat plains surrounding them. Almost all of the land in Ñeembucú is used for grazing (cattle, sheep) or other types of agriculture.

Borders
To the west, Ñeembucú is limited by the Rio Paraguay and Argentina, to the south by the Rio Paraná and Argentina, to the north by the Central department, and to the east by the departments of Paraguarí and Misiones.

History
Ñeembucú was the theatre of the second phase of the War of the Triple Alliance. Battles fought there included Tuyutí, Curupaytí, the Boquerón del Sauce and Humaitá.