|RConstitution:|N Republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.
|RNational holiday:|N Republic Day, February 23.
|RNature and climate:|N The southern part of Guyana is a vast highland plateau which slowly slopes towards the Atlantic coast in the north. In the west, where Guyana, Brazil and Venezuela meets, are the Sierra Pacaraima with several peaks reaching close to 3000 m.a.s.l.
Guyana have many big rivers and most of its area is covered by a tropical rainforest. Only a narrow coastal strip have arable land. 85% of the area is forested but only 25% of the forests are accessible for forestry.
Average temperature between 25 and 18C throughout the year.
Percipitation between 1500 and 2500, most by the coast.
|RPeople:|N 51% East Indians, 30% African descendants, 14% mestizoes and Indians. Some Europeans and Chinese.
The Boni-people are descendants of African slaves that escaped from plantations in the 18th century. Some thousand of them now live in villages in the borderdistrict between Guyana and Suriname.
90% of the population live in the coastal strip that is less than 5% of the area.
|REconomy:|N 33% of the population is occupied in agriculture, 45% in manufacturing and trade and 22% in services.
Most important crops are sugarcanes, giving 30% of the export revenues, rice, coconuts, oilpalms, vegetables and fruits.
Bauxite is the most important mineral along with manganese, diamonds and gold.
Manufacturing processes the domestic resources.
There are also factories producing cigarettes and rum.
In 1975 most of the economy was nationalized.
|RHistory:|N The area was discovered by Columbus in 1498, the colonization was started by the Dutch in the early 17th century. Soon afterwards the French colonized other parts of Guyana.
In 1815 the western part of Guyana became a british colony, which gained self-rule in 1961 and independence 1966. Republic was proclaimed 1970.
The borders to Venezuela in the west and Suriname in the east are disputed. Venezuela claim the whole western part of Guyana.
When Guyana became a British colony and slavery was abolished, indentured servants were brought in from the East Indies. These East Indians soon outnumbered the African slaves.
In 1978 a sect from the USA, led by Jim Jones committed collective suicide in the jungle of Guyana. 911 people died.
On the way to examine the massacre several leading US politicians were killed in an ambush.
