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| / / Guyana |
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| Countries of the World |
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| AREA |
214,969
sq km (83,000 sq miles). |
| POPULATION |
838,000 (1996). |
| POPULATION DENSITY |
3.9 per sq km. |
| CAPITAL |
Georgetown |
| CAPITAL
POPULATION |
200,000 (1996). |
| GEOGRAPHY |
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 spelling)
means 'land of many waters' and the name
was well chosen, for there are over 1600km
(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 Kanaku Mountains
in the far southwest), or thick, hilly jungle
and forest, which occupy over 85% 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. One
of the most spectacular sights to be seen
in the interior is the towering Kaieteur
Falls along the Potaro River, five times
the height of Niagara. The country has 322km
(206 miles) of coastline. More than 25%
of the population lives in or near Georgetown. |
| GOVERNMENT |
Republic. Head of State:
President Janet Jagan since 1997. Head of
Government: Prime Minister Samuel A Hinds
since 1997. |
| LANGUAGE |
English is the official
language but Creole, Hindi, Urdu and Amerindian
are also spoken. |
| RELIGION |
50% Christian, 33%
Hindu, less than 10% Muslim. |
| STANDARD TIME |
GMT - 4. |
| ELECTRICITY |
110 volts AC, 60Hz. |
| COMMUNICATIONS |
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