An Introduction to Guyana
The Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, lies on the northern coast of South America and borders the Caribbean Sea. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and then was ruled by the British for more than 200 years, until May 1966 - it is the only state on mainland South America where English is an official language, and one of very few Caribbean nations that is not an island. Guyana became a republic on 23 February 1970, since when both the US and British have given strong backing to Forbes Burnham's People's National Congress against the openly Marxist People's Progressive Party of Cheddi Jagan. See full country profile.1 current Latin American job:
GOVERNMENT: republic
AREA: 214,969 sq km
POPULATION: 744,768 (July 2011 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: National Language: Guyanese Creole
Some business and general info
The Market Research Industry
Trade and Industry in Guyana
The country's best known sportsman is probably Shivnarine Chanderpaul - former captain of the West Indies cricket team and the first Indo-Caribbean in the West Indies team to play 100 international tests. He is one of only six players to have gone 1,000 minutes in test cricket without losing his wicket, and the only player to have done so more than once, achieving it four times. He's also the only batsman in the history of test cricket to face 1,000 consecutive balls without getting out.
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The Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, lies on the northern coast of South America and borders the Caribbean Sea. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and then was ruled by the British for more than 200 years, until May 1966 - it is the only state on mainland South America where English is an official language, and one of very few Caribbean nations that is not an island. Guyana became a republic on 23 February 1970, since when both the US and British have given strong backing to Forbes Burnham's People's National Congress against the openly Marxist People's Progressive Party of Cheddi Jagan.
Most of the people in this 'Land of Many Rivers' live on the low coastal plain, and the interior includes one of the continent's largest unspoilt rainforests, with impenetrable jungle and many rare species, attracting visits from Sir Walter Raleigh, Gerald Durrell and Sir David Attenborough among others. There is virtually no-one in the western three-quarters of the country.
GDP: $5.379 billion (PPP - 2010 est.)
Religions Protestant 30.5%, Hindu 28.4%, Roman Catholic 8.1%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, Muslim 7.2%, other Christian 17.7%, other 4.3%, none 4.3% (2002 census)
Currency: Guyanese Dollar (GYD) - $1 = GYD 316.52
Telephone Code: + 592
The main economic activities in Guyana are agriculture (production of rice and Demerara sugar), bauxite mining, gold mining, timber, shrimp fishing and minerals. Skilled labour is in short supply and infrastructure is limited, but in 2008 the economy witnessed a 3% increase in growth amid the global economic crisis, and it is expected to grow further.
Guyana's main export commodities are sugar, gold, bauxite, alumina, rice, shrimp, molasses, rum and timber. In 2010, $882.7m of exports went to countries including Canada and the USA (each 24.6%), Ukraine, the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, Portugal, Jamaica and the UK.
Imports totalling just under $1.4bn came from Trinidad and Tobago, the USA, Cuba, China and South Korea, and consisted largely of manufactures, machinery, petroleum and food.
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