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GUYANA
Image 1: flag of Guyana[10]
Image 2: map of Guyana [9]
Image 3: Coat of Arms[11]
1. Introduction
Guyana is located on the northern coast of South America and is also the only member of
Commonwealth of Nations on the whole continent. The membership follows from Guyana
being a former colony of Great Britain (and The Netherlands). Guyana gained
independence on 26th May 1966 with Linden Forbes Burnham, who had major impact on the
process and was strongly supported by the American government, as the 1st prime minister
of Guyana and the 2nd president later. Then Guyana declared itself a “co-operative republic”
in 1970.[1; 2] In 1978 the Jonestown massacre attracted major international attention to
Guyana. The Jonestown massacre was a mass suicide/murder in a model socialistic
settlement named by its leader – Jim Jones. [20]
2. Basic information
2.1. General[3]
Official name: Co-operative Republic of Guyana
Area: 214,970 sq km
Population: 752,940 (July 2010)
Relief: Mount Roraima (2,835m) – Atlantic ocean
0m
Geobioms: tropical rain forest
2.2.
Name: Guyana
Capital: Georgetown
Climate: mostly tropical, temperate in south
Landuse: 84% forests, 6% savanas,
agricultural area, 8% others
Location: 57°-62°N, 2°-8°W
Political status[3]
Established: 1970
Division: 10 regions
Integration: UN, Commonwealth, SELA
Goverment type: republic
Time: GMT - 4
HDI: 0,611 (2006)
GDP: 4,700 USD
3. Map skills
Georgetown; Jonestown; Kaieteur National Park
2%
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4. Population and Settlement
4.1. Demographics
The population of Guyana is approximately 770,000 inhabitants and 90% of it is concentrated in
the northern, coastal part. It is very diverse with ethnic groups of the African and Indian origin (74%
in total) – mainly offspring of slaves, native Aboriginal peoples (10%) and just a small share of
European and Chinese minority(less than 1% both). It comes to mind that there is a high
probability of presence of people with mixed origin since there are so many different ethnics – yes,
these people take up to 17% of the population. [21]
The population went through a decline in 1980s. The cause was vanishing of the two main ethnic
groups – European and Chinese. The number of people started growing again in 1991. The fastest
growing ethnics were the Amerindian (indigenous people) and the multiracial (mixed) groups.[1]
Image. 4: Graph of population development[12]
Interesting fact: Many Afro-Guyanese people could be found in the Guyana government after its
colonization. This was caused by insufficient number of European members of the government. And
many of these (black) politicians attempted to legalize discrimination of other ethnicities. This
resulted in the national race of Guyana being black.[1]
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Tab.: Races of Guyana[1; 21]
Color/Races (2008)
Indo-Guyanese
Afro-Guyanese
Mixed
Aboriginals
Europeans
Chinese
Tab.: Religion of Guyana [1]
43.5%
30.2%
16.7%
10%
<1%
<1%
Religion
Protestant
Hindu
Catholic
Muslim
No religion
Others
Percent
36%
28%
21%
7%
4%
4%
4.2. Religion
The dominant religions of Guyana are Christianity and Hinduism. Data show that 57% of population
is Christian. Number of Hindu population is 28% and the number of Muslim people is 7% with them
mostly being Sunni. There is a small amount of Rastafarian people.
The dominant system of values comes from the countries
colonial history – it is Christian. It had (and still has) a large
influence on local African descendants, this created the AfroGuyanese culture. But nowadays the growth of the IndoGuyanese population caused equality between Christian and
Hindu values.
Image 5: St. Georges Anglican Cathedral,
Georgetown[13]
4.3. Language
The official language of Guyana is English. It is the only English-speaking country in South America.
Guyanese Creole is also a widely spoken language – it is an English based language with Dutch,
West African languages and Caribbean languages influence. Some minorities also speak with wide
variety of Cariban languages – Akawaio, Wai-Wai, Arawak and Macushi. [1]
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4.4. Settlement
Region
Area (sq km)
Population
Population per
sq km
Barima-Waini
20,339
24,275
1.2
Pomeroon-Supenaam
6,195
49,253
8.0
EssequiboIslands–West 2,232
Demerara
Demerara–Mahaica
1,843
103,061
46.2
310,320
168.4
Mahaica-Berbice
3,755
52,428
14.0
EastBerbice-Corentyne
36,234
123,695
3.4
Cuyuni-Mazaruni
47,213
17,597
0.3
Potaro-Siparuni
20,051
10,095
0.5
UpperTakutu-Upper
57,750
Essequibo
UpperDemerara-Berbice 19,387
19,387
1.3
41,112
2.1
Guyana
751,223
3.49
214,999
Tab.: Regions of Guyana[1]
5. Economy (agriculture, industry, services, transportation)
Guyana is not what comes to mind when talking about large economies. The gross
domestic product per capita in 2006 was only $4,700. (The GDP was $4,877 billion in
2009.) It is therefore one of the poorest countries of the western hemisphere. As in most of
former colonies the contrast between mansions and slums can be found there. The
economy made a massive progress in 1989 after President Hoyte’s (Hugh Desmond Hoyte)
economic recovery program (ERP) and since then it has been growing constantly. The
proof to this is that the gdp per capita in 2006 was 4,700 USD and in 2010 it already was
7,200 USD. The ratio of employment is: 60% services, 20% industry and 20% agriculture.
[22]
The main economical activity in Guyana is agriculture. The main products of agriculture are
rice, sugar cane, coconut and bananas while sugar export being the biggest article of
export with 28% of all export earnings and employing more people than any other industry.
Export of natural latex (balata) used to be a big business in Guyana.[1]
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As of transport, there are a total of 187 km of railway, almost 8,000 km of roads. Guyana
gains most of its electricity from Guyana Power and Light (a company). The reliability of
electricity supply is very low. [1]
 Agricultural products: [6]
Rice, sugar cane, coconut, bananas
 Export: [6]
Sugar, gold, bauxite, rice, rum, wood
 Natural resources: [6]
Gold, bauxite, diamonds
6. Tourism[1]
Main landmarks in Guyana are: St. George’s Anglican Cathedral (mentioned in chapter 4.2).
Demerara Harbour bridge which is the world’s fourth longest floating bridge, Providence stadium –
the largest sports stadium in the country, Guyana International Conference centre, Stabroek market
and Queen’s college.
Guyana was the first Caribean state to sign a treaty with UNESCO and 3 sites were considered:
Kaieteur National Park, Shell Beach and historic Georgetown but none of them was succesfull.
7. Key studies
Jonestown massacre:[20] A mass suicide/murder. Happened on November 18, 1978 when the
leader of this model socialistic society convinced almost one thousand people to commit suicide by
consuming fatal amount of cyanide. Jim Jones was originally from San Francisco where the original
Jonestown was but after problems with government he with his colleagues decided to move
Jonestown elsewhere. Their choice was Guyana. Before the massacre Jonestown had large support
by Guyanese government. I recommend a Discovery channel documentary Jonestown: Paradise
Lost. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1090665/)
Kaieteur falls: the world’s largest single waterfall by volume
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8. Pictures
Image 6: Kaieteur Falls in Kaieteur National Park[14]
Image
7:
Rupun
uni
Savan
nah[15]
Image 8: The national bird of Guyana – Hoatzin[16]
Image 9: Satellite picture of
Guyana[17]
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Image 10: Linden Forbes Burnham (the 1st PM of G) [18]
Image 11: Jonestown[19]
9. Videos + interactive
http://www.guyanawiki.org/mediawiki/index.php/Panorama:Shell_Beach%2C_Guyana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmrmoFeWmLc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrF2uz9cWHY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MicwAhZpkds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJURAVi6wpA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HULqx4SP46Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsERoqFWqGs
10. Tasks
 Find more information about boundary disputes.
 When did Guyana gained independence? Search political background.
 Do you know any Guyanese politics?
 Why is English the official language in Guyana? What other languages used there
do you know?
 What is Jonestown?
 What is Guyanese most important economical activity?
11. Dictionary
 Independence – nezávislost
 Diverse – pastry
 Vanishing – vymizení
References:
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana
2) http://opnew.op.gov.gy/
3) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/geos/gy.html
4) http://www.unfpa.org/sowmy/resources/docs/c
ountry_info/profile/en_Guyana_SoWMy_Profi
le.pdf
5) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_pr
ofiles/1211325.stm
6) http://www.zemepis.com/Guyana.php
7) http://www.parliament.gov.gy/
8) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1090665/)
9) http://geology.com/world/guyana-map.gif (2)
10) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commo
ns/thumb/9/99/Flag_of_Guyana.svg/500pxFlag_of_Guyana.svg.png (1)
11) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/COAT_OF_ARMS_of_GUYA
NA.png/584px-COAT_OF_ARMS_of_GUYANA.png (3)
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12) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Population_Guyana.PNG (4)
13) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/St_georges.jpg (5)
14) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Kaieteur_Falls_Guyana_%282
%29_2007.jpg/800px-Kaieteur_Falls_Guyana_%282%29_2007.jpg (6)
15) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/Rupununi_Savannah.jpg/800p
x-Rupununi_Savannah.jpg (7)
16) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Rurrenabaque_Bolivia__The_Amazon.jpg/800px-Rurrenabaque_Bolivia_-_The_Amazon.jpg (8)
17) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Guyana_BMNG.png/406pxGuyana_BMNG.png (9)
18) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Forbes_Burnham.jpg (10)
19) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Jonestown_Houses.jpg (11)
20) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones
21) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Guyana
22) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Guyana