Cuidad del Este - Paraguay - Iguazu Falls

Ciudad del Este (Spanish for City of the East) is the third largest free-tax commerce zone in the world, after Miami and Hong Kong, and -together with Foz do Iguaçu- it is the headquarters of the company that operates the nearby Itaipu dam.

It is part of a triangle known as the Triple Frontera (Triple border), or Tríplice Fronteira in Portuguese. It is linked to the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu by the Friendship Bridge; Puente de la Amistad in Spanish, Ponte da Amizade in Portuguese.

Crossing the Brazil-Paraguay border for US$ 1 in "Moto Taxi"

Founded in 1957, it was originally called Puerto Flor de Lis (Port FleurdeLis), then until 1989 Puerto Stroessner (Port Stroessner).

The city's economy (and Paraguay's economy as well) relies heavily on the mood of the Brazilian economy, as 95% of Paraguay's share of the energy generated by the Itaipu Dam is sold to Brazil
(for US$ 300 million), and that every day many Brazilians cross the border to buy less-expensive products (US$ 1.2 billion, mostly electronics).