Guyana - Tourism and Travel

The Co-operative Republic of Guyana is a a country in South America, on the northeast coast.

It has an area of 83,000 square miles (214,969 square kilometers).

Underneath Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname and parts of Brazil, Guiana and Venezuela lies the Guiana Shield. The Guiana Shield was probably formed over 4 billion years ago and is one of Earth's oldest land surface.

It has many flat-topped mountains and inselbergs (solitary hills), their features having been created by millions of years of chemical weathering.

Most of central Guyana consists of a crystalline plateau. Igneous intrusions into this plateau have caused many rapids to form. Guyana's rivers are characterized by rapids.

At Kaieteur Falls in Guyana, the Potaro River descends over a sandstone ledge for 741 feet (226 meters).

Dense Amazon rainforest cover most of Guyana.

In the west there are highlands, and in the southwest, there are savannah uplands.

There is a belt of lowland along the coast. This is where most of the people live and where most of the agricultural activity takes place.

The climate in Guyana is hot, wet and humid. Along the coast, sea breezes moderate the climate.

Guyana's capital is Georgetown.

762,000 people live in Guyana.

43% are East Indian, 30% are black, 9% are Native American and 17% are mixed race.

English is the official language. Hindi, Tamil, Native American languages and English Creole are also spoken.

57% of the people are Christian, 33% are Hindu and 9% are Muslim.

Agriculture, forestry and bauxite mining form the bases of the economy.

Important exports are timber, bauxite, gold, sugar and rice.

Political instability and the illegal drug trade have hindered Guyana's economic development.

Guyana has a presidential system of government.

The official currency is the Guyanese dollar, which equals 100 cents.