Julián Augusto Saldívar (also known as Posta Leiva) is a city located along the 23rd to 28th kilometer of Ruta 1 (Paraguay) in the

Central department Central () is a Departments of Paraguay, department in Paraguay. The capital is Areguá. With 1,883,927 inhabitants, it is the most populated of the 17 departments of Paraguay. It is also the smallest department, with a total area of . Geogra ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. The city is well known for its exports of

tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in colour, that is considered either a variety of the mandarin orange (''Citrus reticulata''), or a closely related species, under the name ''Citrus tangerina'', or yet as a hybrid (''Citr ...

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...

and other

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

products. The city has grown considerably in the past 15 years. From a population of about 2,013 in 1992, it has more than doubled in population to around 5,383 in 2007, according to a recent census. The city is approximately 20 km due east from the town of

Ypané Ypané is a city in the Central Department of Paraguay, 27 km from Asunción. It is accessed by Routes 1 and 2. The city was founded March 23, 1538 by the Spanish Governor Domingo Martínez de Irala. Its main activities are trade and industr ...

which borders the

Paraguay River The Paraguay River (''Ysyry Paraguái'' in Guarani language, Guarani, ''Rio Paraguai'' in Portuguese language, Portuguese, ''Río Paraguay'' in Spanish language, Spanish) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bol ...

. Its most notable location is on the 27th kilometer where the road breaks off at a fork called Tres Bocas. At this fork, travelers can gain access to the southern region of Paraguay. The dominant religion in the area is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, like the rest of the country, although many missionaries for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

have established a strong following among many of the inhabitants of the area. The alternate name of the city, Posta Leiva, derives from Don Leiva, who was among the first people to inhabit the area of Julián Augusto Saldívar. Don Leiva set up a trading post to invite travelers to come and buy from his market and was quick to help strengthening others that were less fortunate than he was. Upon his death in the mid 1980s, his family and the people of his community tried to rename the city of Julián Augusto Saldívar back to Posta Leiva in remembrance of him and his great compassion toward his family and the people he worked with every day in the region.

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* * Populated places in the Central Department {{Paraguay-geo-stub