Guyana is about the size of Idaho and is situated on the northern coast of South America east of Venezuela, west of Suriname, and north of Brazil. It is the only country in South America where English is the official language. Guyana has immense waterfalls, vast tropical rainforests (covering more than 80% of the country) and grasslands teeming with wildlife. "Guyana" is an Amerindian word meaning "Land of many waters". They are known as the country of Six People - Africans, Amerindians, Chinese, East Indians, Europeans and Portugese.
Full Name - "Co-operative Republic of Guyana"
Capital City - Georgetown
Population - 769,095
Currency - Guyana Dollar
Code: GYD
Symbol: G$
Weights & Measures - Metric
Weather - Guyana's climate is tropical and it is generally hot and humid, though moderated by northeast trade winds along the coast. The local climate hardly changes from 75-85°F. There are two distinct rainy seasons: May to mid-August and mid-November to mid-January. August through October are the hottest months. (Sounds like Jonathan is getting there just in time!)
Geography - Guyana can be divided into four natural regions: a narrow and fertile marshy plain along the Atlantic coast (low coastal plain) where most of the population lives; a white sand belt more inland (hilly sand and clay region) containing most of Guyana's mineral deposits; the dense rainforests (Forested Highland Region) across the middle of the country; and the grassy flat savannah in the south including the larger interior highlands (interior savannah) consisting mostly of mountains that gradually rise to the Brazilian border.
Pre-20th-Century History - The aboriginal inhabitants of the Guyanese coast were Carib Indians. European settlement didn't occur until 1615, when the Dutch West Indian Company erected a fort and depot. The Dutch traded with the Indian peoples of the interior, and established plantations worked by African slaves. Sugar quickly became the dominant crop.
While the coast remained under Dutch control, the English were also establishing sugar and tobacco plantations. Conflict between the two countries meant parts of the region changed hands a number of times, but by 1796 Britain had become the major power. In 1834, slavery was abolished, forcing many plantations to close or look for another source of labor. The British solved the problem by shipping indentured workers from India. From 1846 to 1917, almost 250,000 laborers entered Guyana, dramatically transforming the country's demographic balance.
Modern History - Guyana achieved independence in 1966 and four years later became a cooperative republic within the Commonwealth. The sugar industry was nationalized and the country's economic base was diversified through the production of rice and bauxite. Guyana's economy was in almost permanent recession until 1990 as it slid out of mainstream engagement with the rest of the world and experienced the exodus of much of its educated class. Its domestic economy was not helped by border disputes with neighboring Venezuela and Suriname. In 1992, elections installed the US-educated dentist Dr Cheddi Jagan, an aging Marxist, as president. Dr Jagan's wife Janet became president of Guyana in 1997, amid protests. In the summer of 1999, Jagan retired and named Bharrat Jagdeo as her successor.
