Guyana

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Co-operative Republic
of Guyana
Flag Coat of arms
(In Detail)
National motto: One People, One Nation, One Destiny
Official language English
Capital Georgetown
President Bharrat Jagdeo
Prime Minister Sam Hinds
Area
 - Total
 - % water 		Ranked 81st
214,970 km²
8.4%
Population


 - 700,000 of which 230,000 live in Georgetown (2002)
 - Density

Ranked 156th


697,181
3.2/km²

Independence


 - Date

From the United Kingdom


May 26, 1966

Currency Guyanese dollar
Time zone UTC -4
National anthem Dear Land of Guyana, of Rivers and Plains
Internet TLD .gy
Calling Code 592

The Co-operative Republic of Guyana is a nation along the northern coastline of South America. It constitutes the western part of the wider region of Guiana (an Amerindian word meaning Land of Many Waters), and is bordered to the east by Suriname, to the south by Brazil, to the west by Venezuela and to the north by the Atlantic Ocean. The border with Venezuela is disputed, as is the most southern part of the border with Suriname (along the upper Corentyne river).

History

Main article: History of Guyana

At the time the first Europeans arrived in the area around 1500, Guyana was inhabited by Arawak and Carib tribes of Amerindians. European settlement began in the early 17th century with the Dutch, who established three separate colonies; Essequibo (1616), Berbice (1627), and Demerara (1752). The British assumed control in the late 18th century and the Dutch formally ceded the area in 1814. The three became a single British colony known as British Guiana in 1831.

The abolition of slavery in 1834 led to black settlement of urban areas and the importation of indentured labourers from India, China and Portugal to work the sugar plantations. This ethnocultural divide has persisted and has on occasion led to turbulent politics. Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1966 and became the Cooperative Republic in 1970, remaining a member of the Commonwealth.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Guyana

Legislative power rests in the unicameral Guyanese parliament, the National Assembly, with 53 members chosen on the basis of proportional representation from national lists named by the political parties. An additional 12 members are elected by regional councils at the same time as the National Assembly.

Executive authority is exercised by the president, who appoints and supervises the prime minister and other ministers. The president is not directly elected; each party presenting a slate of candidates for the assembly must designate in advance a leader who will become president if that party receives the largest number of votes. Any dissolution of the assembly and election of a new assembly can lead to a change in the assembly majority and consequently a change in the presidency.

The highest judicial body is the Court of Appeal, headed by a chancellor of the judiciary. The second level is the High Court, presided over by a chief justice. The chancellor and the chief justice are appointed by the president.

Guyana is a full & participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Leaders

Regions

Main article: Regions of Guyana

Guyana consists of 10 regions:

Geography

Map of Guyana

Main article: Geography of Guyana

Guyana can be roughly divided into three regions: a narrow and fertile marshy plain along the Atlantic coast where most of the population live, then a white sand belt more inland consisting of dense rainforests and containing most of Guyana's mineral deposits, and finally the larger interior highlands consisting mostly mountains that gradually rise to the Brazilian border. Guyana's main mountains are contained here, including Mount Ayanganna (2042 m) and on Mount Roraima (2,835 m - highest mountain in Guyana) on the Brazil-Guyana-Venezuela tripoint, part of the Pakaraima range. There are also many steep escarpments and wateralls, incluiding the famous Kaieteur Falls. Between the Rupununi river and the border with Brazil lies the Rupununi savannah, south of which lie the Kanuku mountains. There are many rivers in the country, the main four being (west to east) the Essequibo, the Demerara, the Berbice and the Corentyne along the border with Suriname. At the mouth of the Essequibo are several large islands. The 145 km Shell Beach along the north-west coast of Guyana is major breeding area for turtles and other wildlife.

The local climate is tropical and generally hot and humid, though moderated by northeast trade winds along the coast. There are two rainy seasons, the first from May to mid-August, the second from mid-November to mid-January.

See also List of cities in Guyana

Economy

Main article: Economy of Guyana

The main industries in Guyana are bauxite mining, gold mining, Demerara sugar, timber, shrimp and minerals. The sugar industry, which accounts for 28% of all export earnings, is largely run by Guysuco which employs more people than any other industry. Many indusstries have a large foreign investment. The mineral industry, for example, is heavily invested in by the American company Reynolds Metals and the Canadian Alcan and the Korean/Malaysian Barama Company has a large stake in the logging industry.

The Guyanese economy has exhibited moderate economic growth since 1999, based on an expansion in the agricultural and mining sectors, a more favourable atmosphere for business initiatives, a more realistic exchange rate, fairly low inflation, and the continued support of international organisations. Chronic problems include a shortage of skilled labour and a deficient infrastructure. The government is juggling a sizable external debt against the urgent need for expanded public investment. Low prices for key mining and agricultural commodities combined with troubles in the bauxite and sugar industries threaten the government's already tenuous fiscal position and dim prospects for the future.

Guyana was a founding member of Caricom, whose headquarters are in located in Georgetown.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Guyana

Guyana's population of roughly 760,000-780,000 is diverse: the three major groups are the (East) Indians or Indo-Guyanese (around 50%) who have remained predominantly rural, the Africans or Afro-Guyanese (about 36%-43%) who constitute the majority urban population, and the Amerindians (around 7%, some estimates say as low as 4%) who live in the country's interior. They are divided into a number of different groups, the main ones beinh the Akawaio, Arawak, Carib, Macushi, Makuxi, Pemon and Wapishana. Chinese and Europeans (mostly Portuguese (Guyana) and British) and those of mixed origins make up the remainder (roughly 2%). The overwhelming majority of the population - around 90% - live along the coastal strip, where population density is more than 115 persons per km². There is much racial tension between the Indian and and African communities, and the two main parties are largely mono-racial.

Religion in Guyana runs mainly along racial lines. Christianity (50%) predominantely Anglicanism, is the main religion practiced by Afro-Guyanese, though some are Black Muslim or other Christian denominations. The Indo-Guyanese community are mainly Hinduism (35%), though there is a sizable minority who practice Islam (10%). Guyana is the country with the largest percentage of Bahá'ís (7%). Ninety percent of the inhabitants live on the narrow coastal plain,

Emigration has been a large and persistent problem in Guyana, with an estimated 500,000 Guyanese living abroad. Since independence, as many as 10,000 Guyanese have left and settled permanently in the United States alone per year and demand to emigrate remains very high. Canada, Britain and English-speaking Caribbean islands are the other main countries people choose to emigrate to. At the same time, the birth rate has fallen sharply, and because of the emigration, can no longer sustain the country's population level. Many in the government worry that the country may become depopulated, but few concrete steps have been taken to stem the outflow.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Guyana

Guyana's culture is very similar to that of the English-speaking Caribbean. It is so similar that Guyana is included and accepted as a Caribbean Nation. Only its geographical location separates it from the rest of the English speaking Caribbean. Guyana shares similar interests with the islands in the West Indies, such as food, festive events, music, sports, etc.

Cultural events in Guyana

Shown by the festivals and cultural events in Guyana, the major religion is Hinduism.

Sports in Guyana The major sports in Guyana are Cricket, Softball Cricket (Beach Cricket) and Football (Soccer). The minor sports in Guyana are netball, rounders, lawn tennis, basketball, table tennis, boxing, and a few others.

Holidays
DateEnglish NameRemarks
January 1New Year's Day
February 23Mashramani-Republic Day
VariablePhagwah
VariableEid-ul-Fitr
VariableGood Friday
VariableEaster Monday
May 1Labour Day
May 26Independence Day
JulyCARICOM Day
August 1Emancipation Day
VariableDiwali
December 25Christmas
December 26Boxing Day

Ecology and World Heritage Site status

Countries interested in the conservation and protection of natural and cultural heritage sites of the world accede to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage that was adopted by UNESCO in 1972. Guyana is no exception, and signed the treaty in 1977. In fact, Guyana was the first Caribbean State Party to sign the treaty. Sometime in the latter half of the mid-1990s Guyana seriously began the process of selecting sites for World Heritage nomination and three sites were considered: Kaieteur National Park, Shell Beach and Historic Georgetown. By 1997, work on Kaieteur National Park was started and in 1998 work on Historic Georgetown was begun. To date, however, Guyana has not made a successful nomination.

In 2000(?) Guyana submitted the Kaieteur National Park, including the Kaieteur Falls, to UNESCO as its first World Heritage Site nomination. The proposed area and surrounds have some of Guyana’s most diversified life zones with one of the highest levels of endemic species found anywhere in South America. The Kaieteur Falls is the most spectacular feature of the park falling a distance of 226 m and exceeding the height of Niagara Falls (USA/Canada) five times. Unfortunately, the nomination of Kaieteur Park as a World Heritage Site was not successful, primarily because the area was seen by the evaluators as being too small, especially when compared with the Central Suriname Nature Reserve that had just been nominated as a World Heritage Site (2000). The dossier was thus returned to Guyana for revision.

Guyana continues in its bid for a World Heritage Site. Work continues, after a period of hiatus, on the nomination dossier for Historic Georgetown – a Tentative List indicating Historic Georgetown as being put forward for nomination was submitted to UNESCO in December 2004. There is now a small committee put together by the Guyana National Commission for UNESCO to complete the nomination dossier and the management plan for the site. Recently, in April 2005, two Dutch experts in Conservation spent two weeks in Georgetown supervising Architecture staff and students of the University of Guyana in a historic building survey of the selected area. This is part of the data collection for the nomination dossier. It is expected that the completed nomination document will be submitted in 2006.

Meanwhile, as a result of the Kaieteur National Park being considered too small, there is a proposal to prepare a nomination for a Cluster Site that will include the Kaieteur National Park, the Iwokrama Rain Forest Reserve and the Kanuku Mountains. The Iwokrama Reserve, an area rich in biological diversity, has been described by Major General (Rtd) Joseph Singh as “a flagship project for conservation.” The Kanuku Mountains area is in a pristine state, and is home to more than 400 birds and animals. These three sites together, we feel, more than adequately meet the requirements of exceptional natural beauty and biological diversity, as well as the requirements of size and integrity, for a successful nomination.

There is much work to be done for the successful nomination of these sites to the World Heritage List. The State, the private sector and the ordinary Guyanese each have a role to play in this process and in the later protection of the sites. Inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage will open Guyana to more serious tourists thereby assisting in our economic development.

Military

Military branches: Guyana Defense Force (GDF; includes Ground Forces, Coast Guard, and Air Corps), Guyana People's Militia (GPM), Guyana National Service (GNS), Guyana Police Force

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 206,199 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 155,058 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $7 million (FY94)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.7% (FY94)

Miscellaneous topics

See also

Guyanese Last Names

Further Reading

  • Journey To Guyana Margaret Bacon
  • Ninety-Two Days Evelyn Waugh
  • Wanderings in South America Charles Waterton
  • Zoo Quest to Guiana David Attenborough, 1956 (Lutterworth Press, London)

For books specifically about the Jonestown massacre, see Further Reading on the Jonestown page


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