Country Information

South America, northeast coast.

214,969 sq km (83,000 sq miles).

739,903 (2013).

3.4 per sq km.

Georgetown.

Republic.

Guyana lies in the northeast of South America, bordered by Venezuela to the west, Surinam to the southeast and Brazil to the south. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The word 'Guiana' (the original Amerindian spelling) means 'land of many waters' and the name was well chosen, for there are over 1,600km (965 miles) of navigable rivers in the country. The interior is either high savannah uplands (such as those along the Venezuelan border, called the Rupununi, and the Kanuku Mountains in the far southwest), or thick, hilly jungle and forest, which occupy over 83% of the country's area. The narrow coastal belt contains the vast majority of the population, and produces the major cash crop, sugar, and the major subsistence crop, rice. The country has 322km (206 miles) of coastline. More than 25% of the population lives in or near Georgetown.

English is the official language, but Creole, Hindi, Urdu and Amerindian dialects are also spoken.

50% Christian, 33% Hindu, less than 10% Muslim.

GMT- 4.

Hospitality is important to the Guyanese and it is quite common for the visitor to be invited to their homes. Informal wear is widely acceptable, but men should avoid wearing shorts.

110 volts AC in Georgetown and 220 volts AC elsewhere, 60Hz. American-style (two flat pins with or without grounding pin) and British-style plugs (three square pins) are used.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds since 1997.

President Donald Ramotar since 2011.

President Bharrat Jagdeo won a five-year term in the August 2006 general elections. His Indo-Guyanese Progressive People’s Party won more than 54% of the vote.