Language: English
Currency: Guyanese dollar (GYD)
Calling
Code: 592
Guyana is located in South America. Neighboring countries are
Suriname, Brazil and Venezuela. In the south is the Rupununi region. The
northern part with the most important town of Annai is savannah, the
southern part is jungle and completely undeveloped. Available tours are
definitely expedition-like. The only town is Lethem, which is located on
the border.
Guyana is a small, formerly socialist country. Its
natives, the "Amerindians", are found almost exclusively in the
southwest and are under "nature protection." The country itself is very
tourist-friendly, for example the timber industry leaves a 200m wide
strip of forest along roads and rivers for tourists.
The
country's main sources of income are sugar, gold, rice, bauxite and
timber exports. Tourism still plays a minor role, but some jungle lodges
and day tours are available. An economic boom is expected from oil
production on drilling rigs, which began in 2019.
Coast
Home to the majority of the population,
structured by a few rivers that flow into the Atlantic.
Georgetown
Bartica Mabaruma New Amsterdam
Highlands
The plateau and
mountainous region between the Orinoco and the Amazon is sparsely
populated and known for its nature.
Lethem · Paramakatoi
Berbice-Corentyne
linden trees
The northwest region, the coast between the Demerara
and the border with Venezuela, is almost undeveloped.
All cities
are rather small. The city limits are sometimes very blurred, on the
coast the buildings stretch along the streets to the next city.
1
Georgetown – Cultural and economic center of the country.
2 Linden -
Industrial center surrounded by ore mines.
3 Kwakwani – Southernmost
mining town with road access.
4Anna Regina
5 Bartica
6 Skeldon
Iwokrama Forest is a massive area in Potaro- Siparuni region in Guyana. It covers a total area of 1 million acres of pristine forest.
Kaieteur Falls is a beautiful geologic formation on Potaro river in Potaro- Siparuni region of Guyana. Its total height is measured at 741 feet.
Entry requirements
From Europe, citizens of the new EU states
(“Eastern enlargement”) need a visa. Germans, Austrians, Luxembourgers
and Swiss do not need a visa for stays of up to 3 months. Anyone who
needs a visa – including Liechtenstein residents – can get one, e.g. B.
Apply at the Guyanese embassy in Brussels (current list of entry
requirements).
The usual vaccinations for tropical countries are
not mandatory, but recommended. Neighboring countries may require proof
of yellow fever vaccination. Malaria prophylaxis is not necessary in the
coastal area, it is essential for the hinterland.
There are no
railway lines or international bus routes into the country. However,
there are minibus services that run between Georgetown and Paramaribo in
one go (with ferry crossing).[1]
Airplane
There are no
inexpensive direct flights from Central Europe. The connection is made
by British or American airlines, in the 1st half of 2017 at prices well
over € 3000 return, which always require a change in the USA, so that
you still have to undergo the excessive entry controls there, including
ESTA registration.
The only international airport is Timeri
Airport (GEO), about 40km south of Georgetown. From here it's a quick
taxi or minibus ride to Georgetown or Linden.
Be sure to get
money in small bills (2, 5 and 10 GYD) or 1 USD bills before entering
the country! There is no change option at the airport!
The
porters pick up your luggage directly at customs. Everyone carries only
one piece of luggage and gets 2-10 GYD for it depending on the weight.
If you don't want to take a taxi, you must tell the porters immediately
which minibus (Georgetown or Linden) you want to take. You will not have
the opportunity to do so later. Make absolutely sure that all luggage
ends up in the same taxi or bus. The bus prices are fixed, the drivers
are honest and collect before the journey. Taxi fares should be
negotiated in advance and paid at the end.
car/motorcycle/bicycle
A road runs east along the coast from Georgetown to the border river
Corantijn; From there you can take a car ferry to Suriname. From
Georgetown south the highway leads to Linden. All other road connections
require an off-road four-wheel drive vehicle and precise knowledge of
the trafficability. It happens again and again that bridges collapse and
are not rebuilt!
Venezuela
Venezuela claims 65% of Guyanese
territory. The resulting poor relations mean that there is no border
crossing.
Brazil
The BR-401 bound for Bonfim, coming from
Boavista, Brazil, crosses the border into Lethem. The only raison d'être
of this sleepy town is the crossing, which is open from 7am to 7pm.
Minibuses operate to Linden and Georgetown (15 hrs in the dry season,
well over 24 in the rain). There is also a small airport with three
daily flights from Georgetown. Price early 2022: € 220 single.
There
are some basic, overpriced hotels in both border villages.
Ship
Yachtsmen must check in at Georgetown or upriver at Bartica.
In the area of the cities there is a well-functioning mini-bus line
system. It stops where you want to get off the route. Likewise, you
simply stop a bus to take a ride. There are a few horn signals, e.g. B.
"Do you want to come with me?".
A route change can also be
negotiated at the departure point (start of the line), provided that the
driver returns to his route. The whole bus can also be rented for other
destinations.
The taxis are more comfortable. For exotic routes,
be sure to ask beforehand about the suitability of the vehicle, it often
has to be an all-wheel drive vehicle. Waving at the side of the road to
the next passer-by and asking the price of your destination is not
without its dangers – licensed taxis are yellow and have a number plate
with a number beginning with “H”. There is no such thing as a "Taxi
Control Centre". But there are always some near the hotels and
restaurants.
It is also very easy to walk within the cities, but
there is a risk of robbery, especially at night. Bicycles are also
plentiful, but not recommended for tourists because of the temperatures.
Those wishing to hire a car - which is not practical in the rainy
season - can obtain a local driver's permit at the airport or License
Revenue Office (Camp Street, Georgeton), the fee is G$2000 (2022).
Validity 30 days.
To reach the areas west of the Essequibo, one
can either take one of the decrepit ferries or a "speedboat" from
Parika. There are no bridges. You have to plan several hours for the
ferry ride, the speedboats (small wooden boats with outboard motors)
reach Tiger Island, Bartica or Suddie within an hour.
The English dialect is easy to understand. The language may seem
incomplete to the school English-speaking tourist, but once you get used
to using simple, unadorned sentences, you can get by anywhere.
Many of the Guyanese learned German at school, and there are also many
German-speaking foreigners in the vicinity of the university.
Shops open 8am-4pm Saturday mornings. Sunday is rest day.
The
national currency is the Guyana Dollar (GYD), which is tied to the US$.
At the beginning of 2022, one US dollar is equivalent to 207 Guyana
dollars. US$ should be carried on entry and exchanged in the country.
You can often pay with US$ instead of GYD. Change is always in GYD. ATMs
are not available outside the capital, and credit cards are hardly ever
accepted. At least at Scotiabank there are no problems with foreign
cards. If you don't have enough money with you, you can get cash in
banks with credit cards. There is also a Western Union office in
Georgetown (19 Water St.) which allows cash to be transferred directly
to Georgetown from Europe.
In the markets there is nothing that
does not exist. You just have to find it. High-tech is mostly imported
from the USA and is at least as expensive as in Europe. Local products
(especially the rum) are of high quality and are preferable to imported
goods. Prices can almost always be negotiated.
Creole cuisine is not widespread. Chinese and Indians in particular
dominate the bars. But of course there are also fast food restaurants.
Important sources of starch are cassava and plantains.
Metemgee
is a stew made with cassava, sweet potatoes, plantains, okra and a
spicy, peppery coconut milk sauce. Most Guyanese eat metemgee with fried
fish, boiled eggs, or meat.
Fufu is a mash made from cassava and
plantains that doesn't deny its African origins.
Rum is the main
alcoholic drink. The El Dorado distillery in Demerara stores its product
in wooden barrels for 12-15 years and also exports to Europe.
Nightlife doesn't exist. Restaurants and bars are open until the owner is tired. For example, at Market Square in Georgetown, the last bar closes at around 11:00 p.m. There's coffee there from around 5:00 a.m.
Hotels are rare, expensive and without breakfast. Sometimes there are common rooms where you can use your hammock for little money. Other accommodations are a matter of luck. Tent sites or rest areas do not exist.
Exchange money only in official exchange offices. The black market is
not worth it (about 1% savings).
The country is one of the
poorest in the world. The gap between rich and poor is correspondingly
large. Never let a large sum of money be seen on the street. Avoid
walking in slums, etc.
Whites are a minority and many of the
locals still have personal memories of oppression during British
colonial rule. This occasionally leads to provocations towards foreign
whites.
The military controls large parts of the hinterland. In
the southeast there are border disputes with Suriname, in the west with
Venezuela. Travel to these remote areas must be approved by the
military. There are military checkpoints with ID checks along the
country roads.
The settlements of the Amerindians in the
southwest are under the control of the chiefs or elders (captains).
Permission to visit this area is required from the Ministry of
Indigenous Peoples Affairs (formerly Amerindians Affairs Office) in
Georgetown (251-252 Quamina / Thomas St.). There you will also get a
special document for the captains, which states the reason for the visit
and the estimated duration. This is to avoid getting into a tribal war.
But are they really postponing their war because you're traveling
around?
If you want to travel in the back country, you should
find a guide who has a gun license. Carrying weapons in Guyana requires
a permit. Foreigners can only get such a permit with a work permit if
the work requires it. And it can take a few years.
The usual vaccinations for tropical countries (typhoid, cholera,
hepatitis) are not mandatory, but recommended. Malaria prophylaxis is
not necessary in the coastal area, it is essential for the hinterland.
Only drink bottled water. Only use tap water to brush your teeth if
it is chlorinated or boiled. Ice cubes in restaurants are harmless. Be
sure to wash fresh fruit from the market before eating. Only eat meat
that is boiled or well roasted. If you still want an “English steak”,
you should go to the meat hall on the market BEFORE and look up. It is
your life.
If you go to a doctor, you need a lot of cash. The
treatment is paid directly in advance. Medicines are available in some
pharmacies, but much has to be procured first. This can take days.
Those who are particularly brave go to a public hospital. The
treatment and all medication are then free of charge. However, one
should consider that medical care suffers from severe financial problems
and at least pay something voluntarily.
There are no ambulances,
so take a taxi in an emergency. Addresses of doctors can be obtained
from the hotel or found in the telephone book. If you are traveling
inland, you will need to arrange for emergency transportation yourself.
One possibility is e.g. B. the pilots' association at the Ogle Airstrip
(near Georgetown). Air transport from/to Konashen (southernmost
airfield) costs around USD 2,000 there. Helicopters are only allowed to
the military.
Tropical hot and humid all year round. The best travel time on the coast is between the two rainy seasons, which last from May to August and mid-November to January. Inland, it only rains more often in December.
A friendly "Hello" when entering restaurants and shops is a welcome
one.
Too much bare skin is not welcomed on the street, nudism is
forbidden.
Racism against Indians and whites originating from the
black population spread. The division has defined the political mood in
the country since the 1990s.
Mobile phone coverage is only good in the capital region. Provider is
GTT. In 2022, the minute price will be G$ 34, SMS G$ 9.3. The few
hotspots in Georgetown can only be used with a data package.
Internet is slow, GTT only sells 5 or 10 Mb/s lines.
The name “Guyana” was derived from the original name of the region of Guiana. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the name means “land of many waters”.
The history of Guyana covers the developments in the area of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana from prehistory to the present day. 400 years ago, the first Europeans settled in what is now Guyana. In the past, Guyana alternated between Dutch, French and British rule. On May 26, 1966, Guyana became independent.
The settlement of America came from the north. The first settlers
reached the double continent at least 18,000 years ago. They were nomads
who gradually made their way to South America via Central America. One
of the legacies of the indigenous peoples was the word "Guyana," which
not only meant the country as it is called today, but also included the
area of Suriname (Dutch Guiana) and French Guiana, as well as parts of
what is now Brazil and Venezuela. The word "Guyana" means something like
"land of water." In fact, Guyana is rich in rivers and streams.
Around 1500, two peoples lived in Guyana: the Arawak and the Caribs,
although by the end of the 15th century the Caribs had already driven
most of the Arawak towards the Lesser Antilles.
Although the Spaniard Alonso de Ojeda discovered the coast of what is
now Guyana in 1499, the Spaniards did not actually take possession of or
settle there - apart from a few forays into the hinterland to explore
it. This was because they considered this region far less promising than
other parts of South America and Central America.
It was the
Dutch who were the first to establish colonies in the area of what is
now Guyana: a colony on the Pomeroon in 1581, the colony of Essequibo in
1616, the colony of Berbice in 1627 and the colony of Demerara in 1745.
The Netherlands appeared in the Caribbean and South America as a
"belated colonial power". It was only when the Republic of the Seven
United Provinces gradually fought for its independence from the Spanish
crown in the Eighty Years' War in 1568 that the way was clear for the
establishment of its own colonial empire during the Golden Age. On the
north coast of South America, the Dutch had to make do with the area
between the Essequibo and the Oyapock, which had not yet been seized by
the Spanish (in the west) and the Portuguese (in the east): today
roughly the area of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
The
first bases on the coast and on the rivers leading into the hinterland
were used for trade with the indigenous peoples. But plantations were
soon established to grow coffee, tobacco, indigo plants, cocoa, cotton
and, above all, sugar. To manage these, slaves were "imported" from
Africa, who had to toil in the fields under miserable conditions for the
profit of their masters.
In 1763, a slave revolt against the
Dutch broke out in the colony of Berbice under the leadership of the
slave Cuffy (today Guyana's national hero). Around 3,000 slaves fought
for their freedom and their land. The revolt began on February 23, 1763
on the Magdalenenberg plantation on the Canje, a tributary of the
Berbice, and quickly spread to plantation after plantation. It took 13
months for Dutch troops, supported by British and French forces, to put
down the revolt.
The development of women's suffrage is linked to
the colonial history of the area. According to Frank A. Narain, in 1812
women were granted the right to vote if they owned slaves or could pay
income tax on at least 10,000 guilders; the source does not provide any
information on whether this created equality between women and men.
Ownership of the three colonies of Essequibo, Berbice and Demerara
(the colony on the Pomeroon was incorporated into the colony of
Essequibo) changed hands several times between the colonial powers of
the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland and France until 1814.
Due to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty concluded in London in 1814, the
Netherlands ceded the three colonies of Essequibo, Berbice and Demerara
to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The treaty confirmed
the Netherlands' previous trading rights there. In 1831, the three
colonies were united to form the colony of British Guiana.
After
slavery was abolished in 1834, the British imported contract workers
from British India from 1838 onwards to replace the Afro-Guyanese who
were moving away from sugar cane plantations, and from 1835 onwards
Portuguese workers, mainly from Madeira.
From 1849 onwards, only
male British citizens were allowed to vote; their right to vote
continued to be restricted by wealth requirements. According to Frank A.
Narain, women regained the right to vote in 1928; the right to vote
continued to be tied to a certain level of wealth. Another source gives
1945 as the year in which women were given the right to vote in the
legislative body of British Guiana.
In 1953, British troops
intervened in British Guiana. Britain feared that the couple Janet and
Cheddi Jagan and the People's Progressive Party (PPP) they founded
wanted to turn Guyana into a communist country.
Guyana finally achieved independence from the United Kingdom on May
26, 1966, and was declared a Cooperative Republic on February 23, 1970
by the People's National Congress (PNC) under Prime Minister Forbes
Burnham.
Since the 1960s, ethnic conflicts between Afro-Guyanese
and Indian-Guyanese have played a recurring role in society and
politics. In addition, the border conflict with Venezuela arose again in
the 1960s, culminating in the Venezuelan occupation of Ankoko Island.
On October 11, 1974, Guyana was elected to the UN Security Council
for the first time for a two-year term, making it the first country in
the body with fewer than one million inhabitants. The country was again
a member of the Security Council in 1982/83.
In 1978, Guyana was
in the world news because of the Jonestown massacre. After the murder of
an American politician, cult leader Jim Jones of the Peoples Temple
ordered his followers to commit collective suicide.
In 1980, a
new constitution was adopted. The power of the office of the Prime
Minister was limited and the executive office of the Presidency was
introduced.
In 1989, the Guyana government launched an economic
program that brought about a drastic shift away from a state-controlled
planned economy and towards a free market economy with open markets.
After the 1992 presidential elections, which were won by Cheddi
Jagan of the PPP, militant supporters of the defeated PNC caused violent
riots in the capital, Georgetown. After Jagan died in 1997, his widow,
Janet Jagan, was elected as the new president in December 1997. In
August 1999, she resigned for health reasons and Bharrat Jagdeo became
the new President of Guyana.
In the parliamentary elections on
March 19, 2001, Bharrat Jagdeo was confirmed in his office as president,
as was the case in the following elections on September 2, 2006. After
the PPP's renewed electoral success in 2011, its candidate Donald
Ramotar became president on December 3, 2011, succeeding the previous
incumbent Bharrat Jagdeo, who was not allowed to run again after two
terms in office. In 2015, Ramotar was defeated by the new president,
David Arthur Granger. On December 21, 2018, parliament expressed no
confidence in Granger. According to the constitution, a new parliament
should have been elected within 90 days. However, the government
challenged the vote of no confidence in court and was thus able to gain
time. On June 18, 2019, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled in
the final instance that the government had to call new elections. The
court-ordered elections finally took place on March 2, 2020. The
electoral commission declared the ruling APNU-AFC coalition the winner
of the election, with a lead of 59,077 votes over the PPP. However,
according to the findings of international election observers, the vote
count was partly irregular. After persistent protests, the government
and the opposition finally agreed on a recount. However, this was very
slow to begin. On May 18, 2020, only 642 of 2,339 ballot boxes had been
recounted. After the recount, Irfaan Ali of the PPP finally took office
in August 2020.
On December 3, 2023, a referendum was held in
Venezuela on the annexation of part of Guyana. Around 96 percent of
participants answered yes to the question of whether a new Venezuelan
federal state called Guayana Esequiba should be created and the
population there should be given Venezuelan citizenship.
Guyana lies between 1° and 8.5° north latitude and between 57° and
61° west longitude. The lowest point is on the Atlantic coast, the
highest point is the Roraima-Tepui mountain at 2810 m. On the border
with Venezuela and Brazil rises the Guayana mountain range, after which
the state was named. The main river is the Essequibo, which rises in the
south of the country and flows into the Atlantic in the north. The 225 m
high Kaieteur Falls are located in Potaro National Park.
85% of
the country is sparsely populated tropical rainforest. The west and
south are crossed by mountain ranges, from which the country's most
important rivers rise. There is a swampy coastal strip on the coast.
Behind this is a 20 to 70 km wide alluvial zone, which is partly at sea
level and was dammed by Dutch settlers in the 18th century and drained
by countless drainage channels. This is where the country's agricultural
belt is located, with rice, sugar cane, coconuts and citrus fruits being
grown.
The climate is tropical with rainfall of up to 3000 mm per year; average annual temperatures 27 °C, maximum temperatures around 34 °C, minimum temperatures around 20 °C; humidity 73 to 88%. There are two rainy periods: heavy from April to August, lighter from September to November, heavy again until the end of January, then dry until the beginning of April.
According to climate experts from the World Bank, Guyana is one of
the countries in the South American and Caribbean region that will be
particularly badly affected by a rise in sea level as a result of
climate change. A sea level rise of one meter in Guyana would flood an
area where 70% of the population lives and 40% of the country's
agricultural land is located. In 2004, the government protected an area
of around 4,000 square kilometers in southwest Guyana where the
indigenous Waiwai people live.
According to the Environmental
Performance Index, state and dynamics of the environmental system,
published in January 2021, Guyana ranks 126th out of 180 countries. In
the World Risk Report 2021, the country ranks 7th out of 181 countries
with the highest risk of an extreme natural event leading to a disaster.
The culture is shaped by colonial history and by the two largest
ethnic groups: the Afro-Guyanese, descendants of former slaves from
Africa, and the Indian-Guyanese, descendants of the contract workers
from the former British India who were brought into the country from
1838 onwards.
The writer Wilson Harris (1921-2018) also became
internationally known with his novels and essays.
The largest religious groups are also reflected in the holidays,
Easter, Christmas, Holi and Diwali, among others.
February 23
(1970) is a national holiday, Republic Day and also the annual carnival
day (Mashramani) with colorful costume parades, music bands and
decorated floats.
Guyana Chronicle, state-run daily newspaper (circulation approx.
40,000)
Stabroek News, independent weekly newspaper (circulation
approx. 29,000)
Mirror, party weekly newspaper PPP (circulation
approx. 20,000)
New Nation, party weekly newspaper PNC (circulation
approx. 12,500)
Catholic Standard, weekly newspaper (circulation
approx. 9,000)
Guyana Broadcasting Corporation (state-run)
private
cable TV channels with broadcast times for government programs
Cricket is the most popular sport in Guyana and is considered the
national sport. Guyana is one of the countries that, with other
Caribbean countries, forms the West Indies Cricket Team, one of the
"national teams" in international cricket with test status, the most
prestigious form of the sport. The West Indies cricket team has
participated in almost every Cricket World Cup, winning the first two
editions in 1975 and 1979 and only missing out on the 2023 tournament.
They hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup along with Antigua and Barbuda,
Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and Trinidad
and Tobago. They also hosted six matches of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World
Cup.
Special Olympics Guyana was founded in the late 1970s and
has participated in the Special Olympics World Games several times.
Guyana had 809,000 inhabitants in 2022. Annual population growth was + 0.5%. A surplus of births contributed to population growth (birth rate: 19.9 per 1,000 inhabitants vs. death rate: 9.8 per 1,000 inhabitants). The number of births per woman in 2022 was statistically 2.4, that of the Latin America and the Caribbean region was 1.8. The life expectancy of Guyana's inhabitants from birth was 66 years in 2022. The median age of the population in 2021 was 25.5 years. In 2023, 28.5 percent of the population was under 15 years old, while the proportion of people over 64 was 6.5 percent of the population.
According to the 2002 census, the population is made up of the
following ethnic origins:
43.4% Indians from the former British India
30.2% Creoles, also Afro-Guyanese
16.7% mixed origins
9.2%
indigenous peoples
0.2% Chinese
0.2% Portuguese
0.1% other
Europeans
Proportion of religions in the population:
56.7% Christians
17.0% Pentecostals
8.1% Catholics
7.0% Anglicans
5.0%
Seventh-day Adventists
1.7% Methodists
1.1% Jehovah's Witnesses
17.9% other Christians
28.8% Hindus
7.3% Muslims
4.3% atheists
0.5% Rastafarians
0.1% Baha'is
1.3% others
The highlands
are still home to Indigenous people who practice their own ethnic
religions.
The main spoken language is partially creolized English, as well as Indian languages (including Hindi) and indigenous languages. In addition to English, eleven other languages have the status of officially recognized languages.
The country's health expenditure in 2021 amounted to 4.9% of gross domestic product. In 2018, there were 18 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants practicing in Guyana. The mortality rate among children under 5 was 26.6 per 1,000 live births in 2022.
Guyana's political system cannot be clearly assigned to a specific
form of government, as it has characteristics of both a
semi-presidential republic and a republic with executive power bound to
parliament.
Executive power is exercised by the president, who
appoints the prime minister and the other ministers. The president is,
in a sense, directly elected. This is because every party that puts
forward candidates for the parliamentary elections must appoint a leader
in advance, who will become president if that party receives the most
votes. If a voter votes for a party in the parliamentary election, it is
assumed that he or she is also voting for the presidential candidate
nominated by that party (Article 177 of the Constitution). The president
has the power to dissolve parliament. The cabinet is appointed by the
president, but is also collectively responsible to the National
Assembly. A successful motion of no confidence in the government obliges
the president and cabinet to resign and to call new elections within
three months (Article 106 of the Constitution).
Guyana's
legislative power is vested in the unicameral National Assembly. In
2001, the composition of the National Assembly was reformed. Now, 25
members are elected by proportional representation in 10 constituencies.
An additional 40 members are elected by proportional representation,
with voters voting on a nationwide party list. The President can
dissolve the Assembly at any time and call new elections, but no later
than 5 years after its first meeting.
Only the Prime Minister
must be a member of Parliament. In practice, most other ministers are
also members. Those who are not may debate in Parliament but may not
vote.
Since independence in 1966, Guyana has sought to play an important role in international politics. The country has been a member of the UN Security Council three times (1975–1976, 1982–1983, and 2024–2025). Guyana maintains diplomatic relations with a large number of countries and organizations. The United Nations, the European Union (EU), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization of American States (OAS) all have offices in Georgetown. Guyana is also a member of the Commonwealth and CELAC and a founding member of the Caribbean Community CARICOM.
As a colonial legacy, Guyana has also inherited border conflicts with its neighboring countries. On the maps used in this article, the disputed land areas are assigned to Guyana.
Venezuela, its neighbor to the west, claims the entire area west of
the Essequibo. An arbitration award made in 1899 by an international
mediation commission determined the current borders. In the 1960s,
information came to light which, in Venezuela's view, proved the bias of
the then mediation commission, whereupon Venezuela renewed its claims to
the border along the Essequibo. In 1966, the Venezuelan occupation of
Ankoko Island led to a deterioration in diplomatic relations between the
two countries. If the Venezuelan claim were to be accepted, more than
half of Guyana's territory would fall to Venezuela. Guyana submitted the
case to the International Court of Justice for a decision in 2018.
On December 3, 2023, a referendum was held in Venezuela on
Esequiba's affiliation with Venezuela: 96 percent of voters reportedly
voted in the affirmative when asked whether a new Venezuelan federal
state called "Guayana Esequiba" should be created and the population
there should be granted Venezuelan citizenship. The Brazilian government
strengthened the border garrison in the neighboring state of Roraima.
This is based on fears that Venezuela could invade Guyana via Brazilian
territory, as the Venezuelan-Guyanese border area further north is
difficult to access.
The eastern neighbor Suriname also asserts territorial claims. After
Suriname enforced its maritime territorial claims against Guyana
militarily in June 2000 by deploying two gunboats against the Canadian
company CGX Energy, thereby preventing the construction of an oil
drilling platform, the state of Guyana called on the Permanent Court of
Arbitration (PCA) based in The Hague in February 2004 to resolve the
border dispute.
In consultation with the PCA, Presidents Ronald
Venetiaan and Bharrat Jagdeo publicly announced the final ruling of the
five-member arbitration tribunal of September 17, 2007 on September 20,
2007. The arbitration tribunal awarded Guyana 33,152 square kilometers
and Suriname 17,871 square kilometers of the resource-rich marine area.
Both heads of state welcomed the decision and the settlement of the
dispute. The ruling allows oil companies to begin exploring and
developing the coastal basin. There are believed to be 15 billion
barrels of oil reserves and 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas deposits on
the seabed.
According to previous investigations, most of these
deposits are probably on the Guyanese side. The area that led to
military intervention by Suriname in June 2000 and forced the company
CGX Energy to withdraw is also within the area allocated to Guyana. The
compensation of 34 million US dollars demanded by Guyana for this action
was rejected by the tribunal.
The arbitration tribunal also
confirmed that the entire Corantijn River belongs to Surinamese
territory. This means that Suriname has control over all shipping
traffic from the mouth of the Corantijn.
Amnesty International has warned the country in its annual human
rights reports; mainly because of the life sentences for homosexuals and
the frequent abuse of these by the state.
The government
announced in April 2012 that it would begin consultations on repealing
the anti-homosexual laws from the British colonial era and
decriminalizing homosexual acts. Individual religious groups declared
that they would oppose any changes to the laws.
Guyana is the only South American country that has retained the death penalty in civil criminal law (Brazil, Chile and Peru still have it in military criminal law). The death penalty can be imposed for murder, planned murder, mass murder, terrorism, rape, treason and torture. However, the constitution does not make its use mandatory. The last execution took place in 1997 (as of July 2017).
Guyana's armed forces are the Guyana Defence Forces (GDF). They have a strength of 3,400.
Guyana lives mainly from agriculture and mining. The country has one
of the world's largest deposits of bauxite, its most important export
product. Gold, manganese ore, diamonds, sugar, rice, shrimp, rum and
wood are also exported. Large parts of the forest have been cleared to
extract mineral resources, but at the same time the country would be
"particularly affected by a rise in sea levels as a result of climate
change". Guyana is a founding state and member of CARICOM, which has
existed since 1973.
The unemployment rate for 2017 was given as
11.1%. Underemployment is widespread.
As of 2015, 13 oil fields with an estimated total volume of 11 billion barrels of oil were discovered off the coast of Guyana under the leadership of the US oil company ExxonMobil. The country also has large deposits of mineral resources such as gold, diamonds and copper. These quantities are the world's largest newly discovered oil reserves in 20 years. Production began on December 20, 2019. Guyana has been exporting oil since 2020. Experts believe that with this reserve, Guyana can become the fourth largest oil producer in Latin America and produce more oil than Venezuela and Mexico. The government of Irfaan Ali granted ExxonMobil production concessions for four oil fields in the so-called Stabroek Block: Liza One, Liza Two, Payara and Yellowtail. In view of the sudden oil wealth, however, there were also critical voices pointing out that Guyana in no way has the expertise or the legal and regulatory requirements to deal sensibly with such sudden wealth.
The gross domestic product (GDP) for 2022 is estimated at 15.3 billion US dollars - almost double the previous year. For a long time, Guyana was one of the poorest countries in Latin America. After the discovery of oil fields off the coast of Guyana in 2015, strong economic growth began a little later. In 2022, the country already generated more than one billion US dollars from oil revenues.
The Guyana dollar is abbreviated to GYD according to ISO 4217.
The Guyana dollar cannot be used outside the country and is subject
to relatively high inflation. The smallest banknote has a face value of
20 GYD, the largest one of 5000 GYD. In August 2017, 1 EUR was worth the
equivalent of 240.50 GYD. Credit cards are only accepted by larger
stores and banks. The account is charged in US dollars.
The state budget in 2017 included expenditure of the equivalent of
1,152 million US dollars, compared to income of the equivalent of 939
million US dollars. This results in a budget deficit of 5.9% of gross
domestic product (GDP).
The national debt was 52.3% of GDP in
2017.
In 2020, the following areas accounted for government
spending (as a percentage of GDP):
Health: 5.5%
Education: 4.5%
(2018)
Military: 0.6% (2023)
The most important transport hub is the capital, Georgetown. Connections to the interior of the country are via roads, footpaths, inland waterways and small airports.
The entire road network in 2011 covered around 7,970 km, of which 509 km are paved. In Guyana, traffic drives on the left. To avoid difficult-to-navigate rapids, tracks were built from the end points of river navigation. There are other roads from the coast to the bauxite mining areas of Linden on the Demerara River and from Berbice on the Berbice River in eastern Guyana. A paved road runs along the coastal plain from Corriverton on the banks of the Corantijn, the border river with Suriname, via New Amsterdam and Georgetown to Charity on the north coast. The larger rivers are crossed by ferries.
The most important seaport is Georgetown. Of the country's most important rivers, the Demerara River is the only one that is navigable for ore ships into the mining areas. The other rivers, the Essequibo and its largest tributaries, the Rupununi, Potaro (with the Kaieteur Falls), Mazaruni and Cuyuní, are also important access routes from the coast to the interior. However, they are criss-crossed by numerous rapids and waterfalls. In the sugar cane-growing area of the coastal plain, the canal network through the sugar cane fields is used - instead of difficult-to-maintain roads - to transport the sugar cane harvest to the factories on barges tied together and pulled by tractors from the shore.
There are two international airports, Cheddi Jagan International Airport, about 40 km south of Georgetown, and Eugene F. Correira International Airport, about 6 km east of the capital. There are also numerous paved and unpaved runways.
A railway line along the east coast between Georgetown and Rosignol
was built in sections from 1847. The line between Georgetown and
Plaisance was completed in 1848. It was the first railway line in South
America to be put into operation. The line was extended to Rosignol by
1900. It was closed in 1994.
A railway line along the west coast
between Vreed en Hoop opposite Georgetown and Parika was built in
sections from 1896 and completed by 1914. It was in operation until
1974.
Two shorter lines were operated for freight traffic at Port
Kaituma and Linden, the latter for bauxite transport.