Landlocked Paraguay is bisected by Rio Paraguay. West of the river, the hot infertile plain known as the Gran Chaco is sparsely settled and less explored than the Amazon. Ninety-eight percent of the population lives instead in Paraguay’s more verdant eastern half. Until recently, the government isolated Paraguay both politically and economically, and though the country was once a colony of Spain, more Paraguayans are fluent in Guaraní, the native language, than they are in Spanish. Recently, however, Paraguay began to shake off its self-absorption, and the capital, Asunción, is modernizing. Yet Guaraní still sell feathered headdresses as well as bows and arrows on Asunción’s plazas, and life throughout the country preserves an old-fashioned pace and courtesy.