Guyana Facts, Guyana Flag -- National Geographic

Fast Facts

Population:: 751,000
Capital:: Georgetown; 231,000
Area:: 214,969 square kilometers (83,000 square miles)
Language:: English, Amerindian dialects, Creole, Hindi, Urdu
Religion:: Christian, Hindu, Muslim
Currency:: Guyanese dollar
Life Expectancy:: 63
GDP per Capita:: U.S. $3,800
Literacy Percent:: 99

Tropical rain forest shrouds more than 80 percent of this English-speaking former British colony on the north coast of South America. During 150 years of rule, Britain imported Africans and East Indians as laborers, and Guyana forged close trade ties with the Caribbean. Since independence in 1966, Guyanese have supported a parliamentary system. Sugar, bauxite, rice, and gold lead among exports. Guyana's high debt burden to foreign creditors and territorial disputes with Suriname and Venezuela continue to hamper the government.

ECONOMY

Industry: Bauxite, sugar, rice milling, timber, textiles
Agriculture: Sugar, rice, wheat, vegetable oils; beef; shrimp
Exports: Sugar, gold, bauxite/alumina, rice, shrimp

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

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