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Guyana (/ ɡ aɪ ˈ ɑː n ə / ⓘ or / ɡ aɪ ˈ æ n ə / ⓘ ghy-A(H)N-ə), officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic mainland British West Indies. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters".
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Guyana, country located in the northeastern corner of South America. Indigenous peoples inhabited Guyana prior to European settlement, and their name for the land, guiana (“land of water”), gave the country its name. Present-day Guyana reflects its British and Dutch colonial past and its reactions to that past. It is the only English-speaking country of South America. Since Guyana gained its independence in 1966, the country’s chief economic assets have been its natural resources, mainly its pristine rainforests, sugarcane plantations, rice fields, and bauxite and gold reserves. Despite those riches, Guyana remained one of the poorest countries in South America into the first decades of the 21st century, but the country’s economic fortunes changed dramatically in 2015 with the first of a raft of rich deepwater oil field discoveries in Guyana’s offshore Stabroek Block. Some geographers classify Guyana as a part of the Caribbean region, which they deem to include the West Indies as well as Guyana, Belize, Suriname, and French Guiana on the South American mainland. The capital and chief port of Guyana is Georgetown.
Guyana’s populace is mainly of colonial origin, although Indians are scattered throughout the forested interior. The more numerous coastal peoples are chiefly descendants of slaves from Africa and indentured workers from India, who were originally transported to work the coastal sugarcane plantations. Ethnic problems between the last two groups have played a disruptive role in Guyanese society.
Guyana is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, by Suriname (along the Courantyne River) to the east, by Brazil to the south and southwest, and by Venezuela to the west. Guyana is involved in territorial disputes with both Suriname and Venezuela that are legacies of colonial rule. Although a United Nations international tribunal settled a long-standing maritime boundary dispute between Guyana and Suriname in 2007, the latter still claims the New River Triangle, a 6,000-square-mile (15,600-square-km) area between two tributaries of the Courantyne River in southern Guyana. The currently recognized border between Suriname and Guyana along the Courantyne is also in contention—Suriname claims sovereignty over the entire river and thus views its west bank as the border, while Guyana claims that the thalweg, or deepest channel of the river, is the boundary. The dispute between Guyana and Venezuela dates from 1895, when the British government claimed ownership of the Essequibo River basin. An 1899 settlement awarded Venezuela part of the area, but in 1962 Venezuela claimed all the territory west of the Essequibo.
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The narrow plain that extends along the country’s Atlantic coast has been modified considerably by humans. Much of the area, which measures only about 10 miles (16 km) at its widest point, has been reclaimed from the sea by a series of canals and some 140 miles (225 km) of dikes. The coastal plain’s inland border is generally marked by canals that separate the plain from interior swamps.
About 40 miles (65 km) inland from the coast is a region of undulating land that rises from 50-foot (15-metre) hills on the eastern, coastal side of the region to 400-foot (120-metre) ones on the western side. The area is between 80 and 100 miles (130 and 160 km) wide and is widest in the southeast. It is covered with sand, from which it takes its name as the white-sands (Zanderij) region. A small savanna region in the east lies about 60 miles (100 km) from the coast and is surrounded by the white-sands belt. The sand partly overlies a low crystalline plateau that is generally less than 500 feet (150 metres) in elevation. The plateau forms most of the country’s centre and is penetrated by igneous rock intrusions that cause the numerous rapids of Guyana’s rivers.
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Guyana’s four main rivers—the Courantyne, Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo—all flow from the south and empty into the Atlantic along the eastern section of the coast. Among the tributaries of the Essequibo, the Potaro, the Mazaruni, and the Cuyuni drain the northwest, and the Rupununi drains the southern savanna. The coast is cut by shorter rivers, including the Pomeroon, the Mahaica, the Mahaicony, and the Abary.
The rivers are part of the watershed of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, and the headwaters of the Rupununi in Brazil are often confused with those of the Amazon. Drainage is poor because the average gradient is only about 1 foot per mile (19 centimetres per km), and there are swamps and flooding in the mountains and savannas. The rivers are not suitable for long-distance transportation because they are broken by interior falls, and in the coastal zone their mouths and estuaries are blocked by mud and by sandbars that may occur 2 to 3 miles (about 4 km) out to sea.
The coastal soils are fertile but acidic. The fine-particle grayish blue clays of the coastal plain are composed of alluvium from the Amazon (the mouth of which lies east of Guyana, on the Brazilian coast) deposited by the south equatorial ocean current and of much smaller amounts of alluvium from the country’s rivers. They overlie white sands and ...
6 days ago · A comprehensive overview of Guyana's geography, people, society, government, economy, and history. Learn about its ethnic groups, languages, religions, natural resources, political parties, and more.
Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic mainland British West Indies. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the country's largest city.
Dec 22, 2021 · Guyana achieved independence from the UK in 1966, and since then it has been ruled mostly by socialist-oriented governments. In 1992, Cheddi JAGAN was elected president in what is considered the country's first free and fair election since independence. After his death five years later, his wife, Janet JAGAN, became president but resigned in ...
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Dec 11, 2023 · Learn about Guyana's history, politics, economy, culture and natural resources from this comprehensive overview by BBC News. Find out how Guyana became an oil-producing nation, how it resolved its border dispute with Venezuela, and what challenges it faces.
Guyana is a country located in the northeastern corner of South America. Indigenous peoples inhabited it prior to European settlement. Their name for the land was guiana (‘land of water’). Today Guyana reflects its British and Dutch colonial past. It is the only English-speaking country of South America.
