Basic information on Guyana

• Guyana, with an area of 83,000 square miles or 215,000 square kilometres, is located on the northern coast of South America, and is the only English-speaking country on that continent. It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by Surinam, on the south and south-west by Brazil, and on the west and north-west by Venezuela.

• Guyana is physically divided into four types of landforms: (i) a flat coastal, clayey belt which is about 4.5 feet below sea level, and on which most of its agricultural activity occurs; (ii) a sand belt, to the south of the coastal belt, which includes the Intermediate Savannas; (iii) an undulating, central peneplain which comprises more than half of the countryís area, and in which are located lush, almost pristine, tropical forests, and extensive mineral deposits. This landform stretches from the sand belt to the countryís southern boundary and encompasses, also, the Rupununi Savannas which border Brazil; and (iv) the highlands which are to be found in the midwestern area. This portion of the Guiana Highlands includes the Pakaraima mountain range.

• Guyana has a plentitude of natural resources: fertile agricultural lands on the coastal plain and in the riverain areas; vast areas of tropical hardwood forests of various ecosystems and with a multitude of plant and animal species; abundant fish and shrimping grounds, both in its numerous rivers and in the Atlantic Ocean to its north; and a wide variety of minerals, including gold, diamonds, a range of semiprecious stones, bauxite and manganese. Moreover, because of its many rivers (the word "Guyana" means "land of many waters"), its potential for hydropower is immense.

• Guyana lies wholly in the tropics and possesses an equatorial climate that is characterised by seasonal rainfall, high humidity, and small variations in temperature. There are two rainy seasons which occur from May to June, and from November to January. The average daily temperature is about 80º F (26 ºC).

• The country has a multi-racial population which in 1999 was estimated to be about 745,000 [761,000 according to 2005 census report], or just over three persons per square kilometre. However, because about 90 percent of the countryís population lives in the coastal zone which comprises only about 7.5 percent of its total land area, the actual living-space of most of the population is considered cramped.

(Extracted from :http://www.unep.org/biosafety/files/GYNBFrep.pdf)