The official mapping agency for Paraguay is the Dirección del Servicio Geográfico Militar (DSGM) (formerly Instituto Geográfico Militar), Asunción, founded in 1941. DSGM is responsible for the surveying and mapping of Paraguay and for geographical information. It supervises both topographic and thematic maps of the country.
Detailed topographic mapping is of comparatively recent origin. A 1:100,000 scale photomap series of the south of the country was prepared by the United States Army Map Service in the 1960s, but the principal current Series H741 is at 1:50,000 scale, and was begun in association with the IAGS. This now covers more than 80 percent of the country. Sheets are in five colors with 10 m interval contours, and the projection is Transverse Mercator, International spheroid. There is also a cover of the southern two-thirds of the country in the 1:250,000 Series H501/H541. This series is on UTM projection, International spheroid, and is also in five colors, but with contour interval varying from 10 m to 50 m according to relief. The earliest sheets date from 1978, but some were issued under the PAIGH program in the early 1990s.
There is also a series of topographic maps designed to cover each of the 19 departments, and produced with assistance from Argentina. Ten or more of these have so far been published; they vary in scale and contour interval.
DSGM also publishes some small-scale general maps of the country, which are frequently revised, including a tourist map of Asunción at 1:25,000 scale and a 1:10,000 map of the greater Asunción area in 13 sheets.
A series of maps of other cities, Mapa de ciudades Paraguay, has been in progress since about 1966 (Series H941). The scale is mostly 1:10,000 with contours at 10 m intervals. The projection is Transverse Mercator, International spheroid.
Soviet military topographic mapping of Paraguay is available at the following scales: 1:1,000,000 (6 sheets, complete coverage, published 1978-1990) and a city (1:10,000) topographic map of Asunción published in 1981. These products are available in print, digital raster and digital vector GIS formats from East View Geospatial.
There is a dearth of large-scale thematic mapping of Paraguay. A 1:50,000 scale geological program was started in the early 1960s, but was soon discontinued. There are, however, a number of small-scale earth science maps, including geological and hydrogeological maps published in 1986, and a metallogenic minerals map reprinted in 1990.
In 1975, several 1:500,000 scale resource maps were published covering the Region nororiental del Paraguay. The survey was sponsored by the Organization of American States, and the map themes included geology, soils, vegetation, soil capability and population. A new set of thematic maps on soil, land use and land development was published in 1995 also at 1:500,000 scale but covering the Region oriental. They are in colour and are a result of the Projecto de Racionalizacion del Uso de la Tierra, funded by the World Bank, Japan and the American Defense Mapping Agency (now National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA)), as well as the Paraguay government. They are on a Transverse Mercator projection, WGS84 datum. They are published by the Ministerio de Agricultura y GanaderÃa (MAG).
Cadastral mapping is the responsibility of the Servicio Nacional de Catastro, while large scale cadastral mapping of Asunción is issued by the Oficina de Desarrollo Urbana (ODU), Asunción. Larger scale planimetric maps of the city were produced with Japanese and Brazilian aid in the 1980s.
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