Ciudad del Este

The city was born of Alfredo Stroessner's "March to the East", a drive to give Paraguay an outlet to the Atlantic through Brazil instead of the costly route down the Río de la Plata. A joint Paraguayan–Brazilian commission was set up in 1955, army units built a 200-kilometre road from Coronel Oviedo to the Paraná, and on 3 February 1957 a decree founded the town as Puerto Flor de Lis, near a place called Tacuru Pucu, "tall termite hill" in Guaraní. It was soon renamed Puerto Presidente Stroessner.

Dense forest held back settlement at first, but the city expanded quickly once the Friendship Bridge to Brazil and the Acaray and Itaipu dams were built in the 1960s and 1970s. Thousands of engineers and construction workers arrived for Itaipu, and traders, many from the Middle East and China, pressed for almost all goods to be imported tax-free, creating a large price gap with Brazil. Downtown became a shopping destination for Brazilians, and the city took its place at the centre of the Triple Frontier with Foz do Iguaçu and Puerto Iguazú.

After the 1989 coup that ended Stroessner's rule, a referendum chose the new name Ciudad del Este, "City of the East". It is now the second most populous and developed city in Paraguay, and the headquarters of the company that runs Itaipu.

Ciudad del Este is a multicultural and diverse city. Alongside Paraguayans, it has sizeable Chinese, Taiwanese, Arab, Indian and Korean communities. Sunni Arabs began arriving in the 1970s, followed in the 1980s by Shia Lebanese from the south of Lebanon, and the Al-Khulafa Al-Rashidin Mosque, the largest in the region, opened in 2015; pagodas and Catholic churches complete the skyline. The city is the seat of a Catholic diocese.

Language reflects the mix. As across Paraguay most people speak Spanish and Guaraní, and the mixture of the two called jopara, but Portuguese is used by thousands in trade and farming, and downtown signs and conversations are often in Arabic, Chinese or Korean.

Football is followed as everywhere in Paraguay. Club Atlético 3 de Febrero plays at the Antonio Aranda Stadium, which hosted matches at the 1999 Copa América. The rhythm of the city is set by commerce: it is a place of business more than leisure, and the Lago de la República is its main place to relax.

About 302,000 people lived in the city according to official projections for 2019, and together with Hernandarias, Minga Guazú and Presidente Franco it forms Greater Ciudad del Este. The city produces around 8 per cent of Paraguay's GDP.

Its economy rests on the border. Every day Brazilians cross the Friendship Bridge to buy cheaper electronics, clothing and household goods, and the sacoleiros — named from the Portuguese for "bag" — buy in bulk to resell in Brazil. Much of this trade is considered smuggling by the Brazilian government, and the city has repeatedly appeared on the United States list of notorious markets for counterfeit goods. The economy has diversified into auto parts, textiles and agribusiness, and the farming towns around it are served from here.

The working day follows the shops: buyers cross while they are open, the border markets close in the late afternoon, and the centre empties as shoppers head home. Because Paraguay sells most of its share of Itaipu's power to Brazil and so much trade crosses the bridge, the mood of the Brazilian economy is felt directly in the city's streets.

Ciudad del Este eats Paraguayan food first: chipa, a baked bun of cassava starch, cheese and milk; sopa paraguaya, a cornbread made with corn flour, cheese and milk; grilled beef asado; and mandioca, boiled cassava, with most meals. Terere is drunk through the day, which in this heat makes sense.

The border and its communities shape everything else. With so many Brazilians in town every day, restaurants serving typical Brazilian food are among the easiest to find. Arab food, typically shawarma and kebab to go, is sold in the shopping centres and off the main streets, and Chinese and Korean restaurants can also be found, with a few vegetarian Chinese places outside the centre.

Because street-front space downtown is so valuable, most eating happens inside the multi-storey malls rather than on the main street. The city also has a large food market with more than 800 shops selling fruit, vegetables and clothing.