Located on the northern coast of South America, Guyana shares borders with Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname. Guyana is South America's only English-speaking country.

A former British colony, Guyana became independent from Britain in 1966, and its full name is Co-operative Republic of Guyana.

Guyana's Kaieteur Falls are five times the height of the Niagara Falls, and are known as the world's highest single drop waterfall.

Apart from the coastal plain by the Atlantic Ocean, much of Guyana's land area of 214 969 square kilometres is covered by tropical rainforests that are filled with diverse and rich wildlife and birdlife. Ecotourism is a growing industry.

Four of the world's eight sea turtle species nest on the 140-kilometre-long Shell Beach, near the Venezuelan border. Before a conservation program, the turtles used to be killed for their meat.

Guyana has territorial disputes with both Suriname and Venezuela.

The Dutch arrived in the area in the 16th century, before the British. At the time the area of what is now Guyana was inhabited by Carib and Arawak tribes. The British took over in 1796.

Guyana's population is 736 100 (in 2008). There are continuing tensions between Guyana's two main ethnic groups: descendants of the African slaves who had worked on the sugar plantations during the Dutch rule, who make up a third of the population; and descendants of agriculture workers from India who were brought here by the British rulers after the abolition of slavery, who make up approximately half of Guyana's population. Guyana's two main political parties are based on these two ethnic groups.

As a result of Guyana's history, the main languages spoken in the country are English, indigenous languages, Creole, Hindi and Urdu. The main religions in Guyana are Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. The monetary unit is the Guyanese dollar. Guyana's capital is Georgetown.

The majority of Guyana's industries were owned by the state until the 1990's, but the country suffered economic problems caused by high fuel costs, falling commodity prices and mismanagement. Many industries are now privatised. The sugar industry is a major export industry and the main employer in the country. Other agricultural products are rice, wheat, vegetable oils, beef and shrimp, and the country exports also gold, bauxite and alumina, rice and shrimp.

Guyana has a parliamentary system and a president. President Bharrat Jagdeo won the elections of August 2006, and represents the Indo-Guyanese Progressive People's Party. His election promises included fighting crime and improving government services. He has also called for more cooperation between developing and developed countries on the issue of climate change.

 

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