Guyana

Guyana is located on the north-eastern coast of South America and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Venezuela, Brazil, and Suriname. Its total area is approximately 215,000 square kilometres (83,000 square miles). The country is divided into three counties: Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice and ten administrative regions, with its capital residing in the City of Georgetown. 90% of the population lives on the coastal strip, while the Amerindians (Guyana’s indigenous people) mainly inhabit the savannahs and forest regions.

Guyana is a republic within the British Commonwealth. It became independent on 26 May 1966 and operates under a written Constitution (1980) with a form of government based on the Westminster System, with an elected Head of State. The official language is English and the population, as at the 2012 census, is approximately 747,884. The legal system is based mainly on the English common law; however, vestiges of a Roman-Dutch legal system remain, especially in the area of land tenure. The currency is the Guyanese dollar (GYD).

Guyana’s economy consists mainly of industries dependent on the utilisation of natural resources (e.g. agriculture, mining, fishing, timber). The main agricultural exports are rice and sugar, while bauxite and gold are the major mineral exports. The oil and gas industry is in the early stages of development, with Guyana currently being one of the prime targets for petroleum exploration with its offshore basin and, to a lesser extent, its inland Takatu Basin currently attracting a great deal of interest from petroleum exploration companies.