Guyana
Fast facts
- Capital
- Georgetown
- Official language
- English
- Languages
- Guyanese Creole
- Currency
- Guyanese dollar
- Time zone
- GYT Guyana Time
- Drives on
- left
- Calling code
- 592
Facts from Wikipedia’s “Guyana” page (CC BY-SA 4.0).
The Co-operative Republic of Guyana (formerly British Guiana) is a country in South America. It is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world (700,000 people live there inside its over 200,000 km² of area). Georgetown is the capital; like most of the country’s settlements, it is on a flat coastal plain that goes from northwest to southeast. Venezuela claims the land west of the Essequibo River as part of Guayana Esequiba.
Guyana’s current president is Irfaan Ali. The country gained independence from the United Kingdom on May 26, 1966 (before which it was called British Guiana). The republic is called cooperative for integrating different ethnic groups into government, introduced after the socialist government PNC won a majority in1968. The term “cooperative republic” however dates back from 1961.
Guyana is member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Caribbean Community. It is ranked first in suicides per capita worldwide.
Written for younger readers
Guyana, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: South America
Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is the only country of the Commonwealth of Nations on the mainland of South America. It is bordered to the east by Suriname, to the south and southwest by Brazil and to the west by Venezuela. It is the fourth-smallest country on the mainland of South America (after Suriname, French Guiana, and Uruguay).
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) made up of mountains that gradually rise to the Brazilian border.
There are many rivers in the country, the three main ones being the Essequibo, the Demerara, and the Berbice.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.
Guyana has one of the largest unspoiled rain forests in South America. It covers much of the land area and is the habitat of many animals.
English is the official language of Guyana and used, for example, in its schools. There are other languages spoken as well such as Portuguese and Spanish.
The most popular religions in Guyana include Christianity, Hinduism, and Muslim faiths.
Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Guyana” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.
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