Guyana Church

Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana has been a former colony of the British, Dutch, French and for 200 years the Spanish. It is the only state of the Commonwealth of Nations on mainland South America, and is also a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which has its secretariat headquarters in Guyana’s capital, Georgetown. Guyana is also one of the few Caribbean countries which are not islands. Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966 and became a Republic on 23 February 1970.

Historically, the region known as “Guiana” or “Guayana” comprised the large shield landmass north of the Amazon River and east of the Orinoco River known as the “Land of many waters”. At 215,000 km2, Guyana is the third-smallest independent state on the mainland of South America (after Uruguay and Suriname). Its population is approximately 770,000. Guyana is one of the four non-Spanish-speaking territories on the continent, along with Brazil (Portuguese), Suriname (Dutch) and French Guiana (French).

Guyana has one of the largest unspoiled rainforests in South America, some parts of which are almost inaccessible by humans. More than 80% of Guyana is still covered by forests, ranging from dry evergreen and seasonal forests to montane and lowland evergreen rain forests. These forests are home to more than a thousand species of trees. The population of Guyana is approximately 770,000, of which 90% reside on the narrow coastal strip (approximately 10% of the total land area of Guyana). Guyana’s coastal strip ranges from between 10 to 40 miles (16 to 64 km) in width. English is the official language of Guyana.