Guyana

Geography

Economics

Demographics

Military

Politics

Surface

Surface (in square kilometers)

Surface (in square miles)

Surface (water)

Water Surface (in square kilometers)

Water Surface (in square miles)

Share of water (%)

Temperature

Average temperature (in Celcius)

Average temperature (in Farenheit)

Average high temperature (in Celcius)

Average high temperature (in Farenheit)

Average low temperature (in Celcius)

Average low temperature (in Farenheit)

Rainfall

Average rainfall (mm)

Average rainfall (inch)

Distance to other capitals (kilometers)

Distance to other capitals (miles)

Proximity

Economic organizations

Gross Domestic Product (US$)

Gross Domestic Product per capita

Amount of memberships (economic organizations)

Absolute earnings for every 1$

Relative earnings

GDP in PPP per capita (in US$)

GDP in PPP per capita

Gross Domestic product (in million US$)

GDP per capita (in US$)

Surface GDP

GDP per square kilometer (in US$)

GDP per square mile(in US$)

Relative GDP in PPP

Population

Population density

Emigration

Immigration

Literacy

Health

Population density (in km2)

Population density (in mi2)

Religion

Christianity (share of the total population)

Islam (share of the total population)

Buddhism (share of the total population)

Hinduism (share of the total population)

Judaism (share of the total population)

Other religions (share of the total population)

Non-religious (share of the total population)

Military spending (in % of GDP)

Military spending

In total, Guyana spends one percent of its GDP, or US$68 million on its military which makes it the 148th highest military spender in the world.

Since its independence, Guyana has inherited an army that has been supplied and trained by the United Kingdom. Its main tasks are to defend Guyana from internal and external threats as well as supporting the Guyana government in its economic development.

Military membership

However, it is a member of four international military organizations which makes it the 116th most militarily interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

System of Cooperation Among the American Air Forces
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
International Atomic Energy Agency
Non-Aligned Movement

Military membership

International wars

Guyana has not partaken in any international war.

Number of international wars fought

Military spending (in US$ million)

Membership (international political organizations)

It is a member of 16 international political organizations which makes it the 28th most politically interconnected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Member state of the United Nations
International Labour Organization
Organization of American States
Union of South American Nations
Association of Caribbean States
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States
Commonwealth of Nations
International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

Political Membership

Democracy/dictatorship rating

Despite having politically instable elections, they do take place regularly and there is a clear separation between the executive and the judicial branch of the Guyana governments. Therefore, it is the 76th most democratic state in the world.

Democracy/Dictatorship

Since its independence, the politics of Guyana has taken place in the form of a parliamentary democracy where elections are being held every five years. However, its politics are mainly along ethnic lines instead of ideology. This has led to the domination of an African political party that has been dominating the politics of Guyana over the last 50 years. This, in turn, has led to revolts and demonstrations by other ethnic groups within Guyana.

Organization of Islamic Cooperation
International Criminal Court
Interpol
Global Green Growth Institute
Alliance of Small Island States
Association of World Election Bodies
South Centre (organization)
World Organization for Animal Health

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Translated from indigenous Warrou, meaning the land of many waters, Guyana is known for its beautiful nature and unspoiled Amazon rain forest. Nearly a century after its first discovery by Christopher Columbus, the Dutch settled in the region and represented the largest share of settlers during the 17th and 18th century. However, at the beginning of the 19th century, the United Kingdom took over the area when the Dutch were occupied by the French. Shortly after, slavery was abolished, and a pro-British regime was set up with the help of a military intervention. Shortly after this intervention, Guyana became an independent state that remained within the British Commonwealth. .

More than 90 percent of its surface is covered with the Amazon rain forest with only a narrow low-lying coastal plain to the north which borders the Atlantic Ocean. This area is largely used for housing and agriculture. It is generally low-lying with a small mountain range that stretches from its west to its southwest along the border with Venezuela and Brazil. To the east it borders Suriname and to the south it also borders Brazil.

Guyana is the 83rd largest state in the world with a total surface area of 216,044 square kilometers or 83,415 square miles. This makes Guyana slightly larger than Belarus and slightly smaller than Laos.

With its name, the land of many waters, Guyana has the 32nd highest amount of surface water which covers nearly 8.5 percent of its total surface. In total, 18,211 square kilometers or 7035 square miles of water cover Guyana.

Below, a graph is shown which displays the absolute amount of water of each state in square kilometers and square miles.

Aside from surface water, Guyana has several large aquifers throughout the Southwest. These aquifers are natural filters for its ground water can provide more than 90 percent of all drinking water.

Guyana has a tropical climate with high temperature fluctuations between its mountainous area and its coastal plain. On average, temperatures are around 26.1 degrees Celsius or 79 degrees Fahrenheit which makes Guyana the 38th warmest state in the world.

Its average high temperature occurs from June to September when temperatures go up to 30 degrees Celsius or 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

Its cooler period is from February to April when the temperature drops down to 21.8 degrees Celsius or 71.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Because of its location in the Amazon rain forest, Guyana receives a large amount of precipitation that is evenly spread out throughout the year. It is the 18th state with the highest amount of precipitation which stands at 241 centimetres or 94.5 inches per year.

The capital of Guyana , Georgetown, is home to around 200,000 people. The capital that is closest located to Georgetown is Paramaribo Suriname with a distance of 340 kilometers or 211 miles. The capital that is furthest removed from Georgetown is Dili of East Timor with a distance of 19,565 kilometers or 12,157 miles.

Guyana is largely an exporter of raw materials. These are mainly agricultural products such as sugar and rice as well as bauxite and petroleum related products. These are mainly exported to Portugal and Trinidad and Tobago which combined represent more than 40 percent of total exports. Its imports mainly come from the United Kingdom, Singapore and Trinidad and Tobago which combined represent more than 60 percent of total imports. The economy of Guyana has seen steep rises and sharp declines of its economy over the last decades. This is mainly due to fluctuations on the commodities that Guyana exports as well as limited infrastructure for the exports of its goods.

Guyana is a member of 11 international economic organizations which ranks it as the 127th most connected state in the world. It is a member of the following organizations:

Caribbean Development Bank
Inter-American Development Bank
International Monetary Fund
World Bank Group
World Customs Organization
World Trade Organization
Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States
Caribbean Community
International Renewable Energy Agency
International Solar Alliance
Group of 77

Its GDP is the 159th highest in the world and stands at US$5.2 billion.

Its GDP per surface area is the 182nd highest in the world and stands at US$24,039 per square kilometer or US$62,261 per square mile.

Its GDP per capita is the 87th highest in the world and stands at US$6609.

The absolute earnings (GDP per capita) reflect the average yearly income. The figure below shows how much, on average, an inhabitant of another state earns for every $1 earned by a citizen of this state.

Its purchasing power is the 89th highest in the world and stands at US$13,107.

The relative Gross Domestic Product in Purchasing Power Parity compares the purchasing power of this state with that of the rest of the world. The graph on the left shows how much purchasing power of 1$ compared to the purchasing power of other states

Because of its recent history with the United Kingdom, English is recognized as the official language in Guyana. Other languages that are mainly spoken in Guyana are a creole language, indigenous Caribbean languages as well as Hindi. Hindi spoken by 40 percent of the population and mainly comes from Indians that were relocated by the British Empire in order to substitute the freed African population in the sugar plantations. Today, Guyana is the 161st most populous state in the world with 785,770 people.

It has one of the lowest population densities in the world. With a rank of 189, Guyana has four people per square kilometer or 9 people per square mile.

Around 65 percent of the population, or more than 500,000 people have migrated to other states. More than 60 percent of all migrants have migrated to the United States. This is largely because of the need of low skilled labour of domestic workers. The remaining migrants went to the United Kingdom, Canada and within its proximity.

Immigration to Guyana is represented by 1.66 percent of the population, or more than 10,000 people. Nearly half of all migrants come from Suriname with the remainder, from Brazil, Venezuela, the United States, the United Kingdom and China.

The availability of educational resources is unevenly spread out throughout Guyana. Even though education is compulsory between the ages of five and 16, children in rural areas lack access. This has led to a literacy rate of 86.2 percent which is the 129th highest in the world.

Healthcare in Guyana has improved over the last decades. However, some threats to health still remain. Of the communicable diseases, HIV and pneumonia were among the leading causes of death while a lack of maternal health and the inaccessibility of healthcare in rural areas were also large contributors to Guyana's health risks. On average, Guyana has a life expectancy of 70.3 years with women averaging around 73.5 years and men averaging 67.2 years. This makes Guyana the 132nd state with the highest life expectancy.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the government of Guyana. Over the last three decades, only small interferences by the government of Guyana have been noticed.

Christianity is the largest religion in Guyana and is followed by 56.7 percent of the population. This makes Guyana the 112th most Christian state in the world. The Anglican church has the highest number of followers followed by the Roman catholic church.

On the right, the global share of Christians per state is displayed

Islam is the third largest religion in Guyana and is practiced by 6.7 percent of the population which makes Guyana the 82nd most Islamic state in the world. It arrived to Guyana with the reallocation of Indian Muslims in order to work in the sugar plantation.

There are no official Buddhist organizations in Guyana.

With 25.88 percent of the population adhering to Hinduism, Hindus make up the second largest religious group in Guyana. As with Islam, most Hindus arrived after the abolishment of slavery in order to replace the African work force in Guyana.

There are small Jewish communities within Guyana which are mainly located in Georgetown. These are mostly businessmen and represent less than 1000 people.

Other religions mainly stem from indigenous African religions such as Obeah as well as indigenous South American religions such as Shamanism. However, due to intense work by Christian missionaries, only 0.54 percent of the population adheres to these religions.

Irreligion is the fourth largest group in Guyana and is represented by 1.34 percent of the population. This low percentage is largely due to religious upbringing as well as a historical repression where irreligion was punishable by law.