Guyana

Posted February 24th, 2008 by Anonymous

Guyana (pronounced /ɡaɪˈænə/ or /ɡiːˈɑːnə/ ), officially named the Co-operative Republic of Guyana , is the only nation state of the Commonwealth of Nations on the mainland of South America. Guyana lies north of the equator, in the tropics, and is located on the Atlantic Ocean. Guyana is bordered to the east by Suriname, to the south and southwest by Brazil and to the west by Venezuela. It is the third smallest country on the mainland of South America. Culturally it is more associated with the Anglo-Caribbean countries than with Latin America and is the only English-speaking country in South America. It is also one of four non-Spanish-speaking territories on the continent, along with the countries of Brazil (Portuguese) and Suriname (Dutch) and the French overseas region of French Guiana (French).

History

When the first Europeans arrived in the area around 1500, Guyana was inhabited by the Arawak and Carib tribes of American Indians. Although Guyana was first sighted by Christopher Columbus during his third voyage (in 1498), it was not settled by Europeans until the Dutch in 1616, who established three separate colonies; Essequibo (1616), Berbice (1627), and Demerara (1752). The British assumed control in the late eighteenth century and the Dutch formally ceded the area in 1814. In 1831 the three separate colonies became a single British colony known as British Guiana.

Escaped enslaved people formed their own settlements known as Maroon communities, but with the abolition of slavery in 1834 many of the former enslaved began to settle in urban areas. Indentured laborers from modern day Portugal (1834), Germany (first in 1835), Ireland (1836), Scotland (1837), Malta (1839), China and India (beginning in 1838) were imported to work on the sugar plantations.

In 1889 Venezuela claimed the land up to the Essequibo. Ten years later an international tribunal ruled the land belonged to British Guiana.

During the Second World War, the United States arranged for its airforce to use British airports in South America, including those in British Guiana.

Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1966 and became a republic on 23 February 1970, remaining a member of the Commonwealth. The United States State Department and the United States Central Intelligence Agency, along with the British government, played a strong role in influencing who would politically control Guyana during this time. They provided secret financial support and political campaign advice to pro-western Guyanese of African descent, especially Forbes Burnham's People's National Congress to the detriment of Cheddi Jagan-led Marxists of Indian descent.

Geography

Guyana is an Amerindian word meaning "Land of many waters". The country can be characterized by its vast rain forests dissected by numerous rivers, creeks and waterfalls, notably Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River. Guyana's tepuis are famous for being the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel The Lost World . The country enjoys a diverse, multicultural society, high floral and faunal biodiversity, prize-winning rum, and Demerara sugar. Guyana is also known internationally for being the site of the notorious Jonestown Massacre.

Guyana can be divided into four natural regions: a narrow and fertile marshy plain along the Atlantic (low coastal plain) coast where most of the population lives, then 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, the grassy flat savannah in the south and finally the larger interior highlands (interior savannah) consisting mostly of mountains that gradually rise to the Brazilian border. Guyana's main mountains are contained here, including Mount Ayanganna (6,699 ft (2,042 m)) and on Mount Roraima (9,301 ft (2,835 m) – the highest mountain in Guyana) on the Brazil-Guyana-Venezuela tripoint, part of the Pakaraima range. Roraima is said to be have been the inspiration for The Lost World . There are also many steep escarpments and waterfalls, including 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 three main ones being (west to east) the Essequibo, the Demerara, and the Berbice. There is also the Corentyne along the border with Suriname. At the mouth of the Essequibo are several large islands. The 90-mile (145 km) Shell Beach along the north-west coasts. Guyana is a major breeding area for sea turtles (mainly Leatherbacks) 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.

Boundary disputes

Guyana was in a border dispute with both Suriname, which claimed the land east of the Corentyne River in southeastern Guyana, and Venezuela which claims the land west of the Essequibo River as part of Guayana Esequiba. The dispute with Suriname was arbitrated by the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea and a ruling in favor of Guyana was announced in September, 2007., ,

When the British surveyed British Guiana in 1840, they included the entire Cuyuni River basin within the colony. Venezuela did not agree with this as it claimed all lands west of the Essequibo River. In 1898, at Venezuela's request, an international arbitration tribunal was convened and in 1899 they issued an award giving about 94% percent of the disputed territory to British Guiana. Venezuela and Great Britain accepted the award by treaty in 1905.

In 1962, Venezuela renewed its 19th century claim, alleging that the arbitration award was invalid. The British and the Guyanese rejected this renewed claim, and efforts by all the parties to resolve the matter on the eve of Guyana's independence in 1966 failed. On 17 February 1966, in Geneva, the parties agreed in principle to settle the dispute peacefully, but no other agreement was reached. Later in 1966, Venezuela occupied and annexed the Guyanese half of Ankoko Island in the Cuyuni River. On 18 June 1970, at the Port of Spain meetings of the Caribbean nations, Venezuela and Guyana signed a protocol placing a moratorium on discussions on the border issue for a period of twelve years. The moratorium expired and was not renewed. The only current agreement recognized by both sides is a semi-official agreement between the Guyanese Defense Force and the Venezuelan Army signed in 1990.

Venezuelan maps after 1962 started to show the territory as disputed or labeled it Zona en Reclamación (the "zone in process of reclamation"). After 1982, Venezuelan maps started to show Guayana Esequiba as an integral part of Venezuela without any indication that it was under Guyanese administration and in dispute.

Demographics

The present population of Guyana is racially and ethnically heterogeneous, composed chiefly of the descendants of immigrants who came to the country either as enslaved people or as indentured laborers. The population therefore comprises groups of persons with nationality backgrounds from Europe (especially the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Portugal), Africa, China, India, and the Middle East, with the Amerindians as the indigenous population. These groups of diverse nationality backgrounds have been fused together by a common language, i.e., English and Creole.

The largest nationality sub-group is that of the East Indians (Indo-Guyanese), comprising 43.5 percent of the population in 2002. They are followed by people of African heritage (Afro-Guyanese) (30.2 percent). The third in rank are those of mixed heritage (16.7 percent), while the Amerindians are fourth with 9.2 percent. The smallest groups are European, including Portuguese, (0.06 percent or 476 persons and the Chinese (0.19 percent or 1395). A small group (0.01 percent or 112 persons) did not identify their race/ethnic background.

The population distribution in 2002 was determined by nationality background. The distribution pattern has been similar to those of the 1980 and 1991 censuses, but the share of the two main groups has declined. The East Indians were 51.9 percent of the total population in 1980, but by 1991 had fallen to 48.6 percent, and then 43.5 percent in 2002 census. Those of African descent increased slightly from 30.8 to 32.3 percent during the first period (1980 and 1991) before falling to 30.2 percent in the 2002 census. With small growth in the population, the decline in the shares of the two larger groups has resulted in the relative shares of the ‘Mixed’ and Amerindian groups. The Amerindian population rose by 22,097 persons between 1991 and 2002. This represents an increase of 47.3 percent or annual growth of 3.5 percent. Simila

Brief Guyana feedback.

THE STUMP IS BROKEN!!!!! CHANDERS CLEAN BOWLED BY a POWELL EXPRESS!!!! THE CHANGE OF ENDS WORKED! FIRST BALL FROM NEW END BY POWELL AND CHANDERS YORKED....THE STUMP IS BROKEN! ARE WE SEEING AN UPSET HERE?And Lexnnox Cush goes too!Cricket, Guyana, Guyana vs Jamaica, Jamaica, Semi-Finals 2008, Stanford 20/20, TCWJ, The Cricket Watcher's Journal

Lennox Cush took Hyatt, Hinds and Marshall in three balls (the 4th, 5th and 6th of his last over) in the 19th over of the innings to nail down the Jamaicans.Cricket, Cush Hat trick, Guyana, Guyana vs Jamaica, Jamaica, Semi-Finals 2008, Stanford 20/20, TCWJ, The Cricket Watcher's Journal.Second semi-final: Jamaica vs Guyana,Stanford 20/20, 2008

Stanford 20/20 : Guyana vs Jamaica, Second Semi-final,Live Match report.Cricket, Guyana, Guyana vs Jamaica, Jamaica, Semi-Finals 2008, Stanford 20/20, TCWJ, The Cricket Watcher's Journal.Guyana win the toss and elect to field.Awright....so dey wanna chase a total dey know.Dem Guyanaese tink 'dey ave their opening motors purring nicely, but what if

Unidentified gunmen late Sunday night killed 12 people during a brazen assault on a police station at a gold-mining township in south-western Guyana, in the second massacre in a month, authorities said.

Guyana gunmen kill 12 in an attack

Guyana

General elections results, country map, history of the republic, speeches by the president, and other sections.

Guyana News and Information

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