A GUYANA SCRAPBOOK
N.B.This site will close on October 26th, 2009

In the jungle, Essequibo, Guyana.

SOME FACTS ABOUT GUYANA

Guyana is 83,000 square miles in area, and is situated on the North-Eastern coast of South America, bordered by Suriname to the East, Brazil to the South, and Venezuela to the West. Guyana meets the Atlantic Ocean to its North, and much of this coastal area is at or slightly below sea level, and is protected by extensive sea defences.

In the interior, large areas of savannah separate the coastal plain from the mountains and tropical forest regions of the South and West. Behind its low-lying coastal plain, the inland regions slope upwards to the mountain ranges in the West and South. The highest point is found to the West, in the Pacaraima Mountains where Mount Roraima reaches 9,094 feet. (Much of its hinterland forms a part of the 'Guiana Highlands' - a very large massif of Pre-Cambrian formation between the Orinoco and the Amazon Rivers, shared by Guyana, Venezuela, Suriname and Cayenne, and consisting of mesas and deep, narrow valleys mostly covered by dense forest. The mountains contain vast iron-ore deposits as well as diamonds, gold and other minerals.) There are numerous large rivers, of which the most important are the Essequibo, Cuyani, Mazaruni, Demerara, and the Berbice (refer to 'Rivers').

Guyana has a subtropical climate with two wet seasons and two dry seasons. The wet seasons are from April to July and November to January while the dry seasons are from August to November and February to March. Humidity is high throughout the year and temperatures are influenced by the NE trade winds. Average annual precipitation in Georgetown is 2,280 mm (90 inches) with less rainfall occurring on the higher plateau. Average temperature ranges in Georgetown are from 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit) to 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) all year.

The country has extensive mineral resources and an agricultural potential which, it is said, have yet to be fully exploited. The main produts are sugar, rice, gold, and bauxite, but all are produced in lesser amounts than in the past due to severe economic, financial, and political constraints. Diamonds and timber are also products of note from Guyana. Guyana is an active exporter of diamonds to countries all over the world, and an estimated 107,150 carats were mined in the 2006 first quarter.

In 1966, Guyana emerged from British colonial rule, as a newly independent country. In 1970, it was turned into the world's first Co-operative Republic. Guyana's official language is English, but 'Creolese' is the unofficial and predominantly spoken language throughout the country. Guyana's capital and main port is Georgetown, which is located at the mouth of the wide Demerara River. The unit of currency is the Guyana Dollar. The population has been steady at around 800,000 for a number of years, due to the large scale emigration brought about by the state of the economy.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Guyana is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which is headquartered in Georgetown. It also is a member of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). Guyana strongly supports the concept of regional integration and is currently (in 1999) discussing increased ties to Trinidad and Barbados. It played an important role in the founding of CARICOM, but its status as by far the organization's poorest member limits its ability to exert leadership in regional activities. Both the Hoyte and Jagan administrations have sought to keep Guyanese foreign policy in close alignment with the consensus of CARICOM members, especially in voting in the UN, OAS, and other international organizations.

Since ratifying in April 1993 the 1988 Vienna Convention on illicit traffic in narcotic drugs, Guyana has been a member of all the major international agreements of cooperation against narcotics trafficking, and it cooperates closely with the U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Two neighbors have longstanding territorial disputes with Guyana. Since the 19th century, Venezuela has claimed all of Guyana west of the Essequibo River - 62% of Guyana's territory. At a meeting in Geneva in 1966, the two countries agreed to receive recommendations from a representative of the UN Secretary General on ways to settle the dispute peacefully. Diplomatic contacts between the two countries and the Secretary General's representative are continuing. Neighboring Suriname also claims the territory east of Guyana's New River, a largely uninhabited area of some 15,000 square kilometers (6,000 sq. miles) in southeast Guyana. Guyana regards its legal title to all of its territory as sound.

Welcome,
Take your time and browse through this 'scrapbook'; you'll find some things that you will recognize and rememeber, and others that are new. Either way, I hope that you enjoy the contents.

Please use the utilities at the left, or at the top of the pages to contact me - sign my guestbook, send me an e-mail me, etc. When you're finished, you can link to some of the Guyanese sites that are listed on my "Links" page. Enjoy.

Thanks, come again (things are always changing).

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