Driving Directions Guyana
GUYANA, the only English-speaking country in South America, is situated on the northeast coast of the continent on the Atlantic Ocean. Guyana was formerly called British Guiana, but it achieved its independence in 1966. Before becoming a Crown colony, it was largely under the control of the Dutch West India Company.
The Dutch were responsible for beginning an extensive land reclamation program along the coast, and, to this day, there is a narrow belt of fertile land with rich alluvial soils, protected from the sea by dikes and dams.
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Inland from Guyana’s coastal belt, which nowhere exceeds 64 kilometers or 40 miles in width, there lies a densely forested region covering about four-fifths of the total land area. In the north and southwest, the forests give way to the Rapununi and Kanaku regions’ high savannah, while in the western, central part of the country lie the Guiana Highlands and their table-top peaks.
The country’s name means “many important rivers cross the land of many waters” and Guyana. On one of these, the River Potaro lies the spectacular Kaieteur Falls, where the water drops 226 meters or 741 feet. The vast majority of Guyana’s people live either in the capital city, Georgetown or within the coastal belt.
It is on this narrow coastal belt that rice is grown and sugar produced. Rice and sugar and its byproducts are the mainstays of the country’s economy. At the same time, tropical fruits and vegetables such as coconuts, citrus, coffee, and com are grown mainly for home consumption.
Large livestock, including cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens, are raised in the savannah lands. Guyana’s principal mineral is bauxite, with gold, manganese, and diamonds also being produced. There is potential for the production of minerals, hardwood, and hydroelectric power in the southwest forests.
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Guyana has four major types of terrain. A narrow but densely populated strip of plains extends the full length of the coast. Beyond the coastal plain lies a hilly, forested interior that covers most of the country. The interior also includes two major savannah regions and highlands that rise in the south and west. The country has rich deposits of bauxite and manganese. The Discovery of gold and diamond deposits likely will lead to the development of greater mining.
The northern coast of Guyana borders the southeastern North Atlantic Ocean.
Did you know about Guyana?
Guyana’s name comes from an Amerindian word meaning “Land of Many Waters.”
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