The country of Guyana was once Great Britain's only colony in South America. Today it is the only English-speaking country on the continent. The original American Indian inhabitants of the land gave it the name Guiana, meaning Land of Waters. The name refers to the country's many rivers, which cut through thick rain forest. The capital is Georgetown. GeographyGuyana is one of a group of three South American countries that do not have strong cultural ties to Spain or Portugal. The other two countries are Suriname, which lies to the east of Guyana, and French Guiana, which is east of Suriname. All three countries have northern coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean. Besides Suriname, Guyana's other neighbors are Venezuela to the west and Brazil to the west and south. Guyana covers an area of 83,044 square miles (215,083 square kilometers). A narrow coastal plain extends along the Atlantic Ocean in northern Guyana. The plain measures only 10 miles (16 kilometers) at its widest point, but it is home to most of the country's people. The land there is made up of mud and silt carried by ocean currents from the mouth of the Amazon River hundreds of miles away in Brazil. The resulting soil is very fertile. Much of the coastal plain is below sea level. Seawalls and drainage canals protect the land from ocean waters, but flooding is still common. Most of Guyana south of the coastal plain is covered with forest. Bordering the plain is a region of sandy, forested hills. Farther south are plateaus, or raised flat areas, and mountains. The Pacaraima Mountains in the west contain Guyana's highest peak, Mount Roraima, which rises 9,094 feet (2,772 meters). In the southwest lies the Rupununi Savanna, a dry grassland region. Guyana's four main rivers—the Courantyne, Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo—flow from the south and pour into the Atlantic Ocean. The Courantyne forms the country's eastern boundary with Suriname. Guyana is close to the equator and therefore has a rainy tropical climate. Temperatures and humidity are high all year long. Near the coast, trade winds from the east provide some relief from the heat. Plants and animalsThe huge rain forests of Guyana are full of valuable tropical trees. Some trees provide beautiful wood that is used in making furniture. The balata tree is the source of a hard, rubberlike material used in manufacturing golf balls. Along Guyana's coast are mangrove trees and saltwater grasses. The savanna regions are covered with grasses and dotted with palm trees. The wildlife of the rain forest includes tapirs, jaguars, monkeys, sloths, and anteaters. The forests are also home to tropical birds such as macaws. Guyana's many snakes include the giant anaconda, which is the largest snake in the world. Giant otters live in the country's rivers. People and cultureThe first people to live in what is now Guyana were American Indians. Their descendants, called Amerindians, are now a minority within the country's population. Most of Guyana's people are descended from workers brought to the area during the time of Dutch and British rule. Descendants of slaves brought from Africa make up about a third of the country's population. They are called Afro-Guyanese. East Indians, or the Indo-Guyanese, are Guyana's largest ethnic group. They make up about half of the population. Their ancestors were brought from India as farm workers after the slaves were freed in the 1830s. Some Chinese and Portuguese workers also were brought into the colony. Today Guyana has small Chinese and Portuguese communities. The official and most widely spoken language of Guyana is English. Christianity and Hinduism are the most common religions. The country also has a large Muslim minority. Guyana is a mainly rural country. Most of the people live in villages in the coastal plain. The villages range in size from several hundred to several thousand people. The only large city in Guyana is Georgetown, the capital. It lies on the coast at the mouth of the Demerara River. Only the Amerindians live in large numbers south of the coastal plain. Economy - Fields of sugarcane surround small settlements at Ogle, east of Georgetown, Guyana. Sugar is one of …
Guyana is one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Its most important economic activities are agriculture and mining. Farming takes place mainly on the coastal plain. Sugarcane and rice are the leading crops. Both are major exports. Coconuts, cassavas, bananas, and pineapples are also grown. Cattle and sheep are raised on the savannas and on the coastal plain. Shrimp are the most important product of Guyana's fisheries. Trees in the hardwood forests are cut down to produce timber for export. Wood from the greenheart tree in particular is prized for the way it resists decay. Guyana has large reserves of bauxite, the rock from which aluminum is made. Bauxite and gold are the country's chief mineral exports. Diamonds are also mined. HistoryAmerican Indians have lived in present-day Guyana for many centuries. Arawak and Carib Indians lived in the region when European explorers arrived. (The Arawak and the Carib also populated the Caribbean islands.) The first European to see the Guyana coast was Christopher Columbus in 1498. Afterward the Spanish claimed the area, but they made little effort to develop a colony. It was the Dutch who began to set up trading posts in the area starting in about 1580. Soon the Dutch started sugarcane plantations. They brought in slaves from Africa to do the work. In the 17th century the British and French also began establishing settlements in the region. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries Britain and France were often at war. The Guyana territory frequently changed hands between them. The British took control of the region in 1796, and in 1814 they officially purchased three colonies from the Dutch. These colonies were united in 1831 to form the colony of British Guiana. British periodThe British ended the slave trade in their colonies in 1807. By that time about 100,000 Africans had been brought to the Guyana region. The slaves were finally freed in the 1830s. This resulted in a labor shortage on the plantations. In response, the British brought workers to the colony from other countries, especially India. The newcomers were indentured servants, meaning that they were required to work for a number of years in exchange for transportation to the colony. This practice continued until 1917. By then almost 240,000 East Indians had entered the colony. In 1953 the British government granted British Guiana the power to govern itself. Soon two main political parties developed. The People's Progressive Party (PPP) was made up mostly of East Indians. The People's National Congress (PNC) consisted mostly of blacks. The two groups competed bitterly for power. In 1964 the PNC came to power. Two years later the party led British Guiana to independence under the name Guyana. Independent GuyanaThe PNC dominated politics in Guyana into the 1990s. During this period the PNC won every election, but both the PPP and other countries accused the PNC of vote fraud. The country's first elections to be considered fair were held in 1992. The PPP defeated the PNC and came to power. The PPP continued to control the government into the 21st century. Guyana's economy improved in the 1990s after serious problems in the 1970s and 1980s. But the government had to deal with ongoing disputes over its borders with Venezuela and Suriname. Population (2001 estimate), 776,000. |