]! ^! Originally a Dutch colony in the 17th century, by 1815 Guyana had become a British possession. The abolition of slavery led to black settlement of urban areas and the importation of indentured servants from India to work the sugar plantations. This ethnocultural divide has persisted and has led to turbulent politics. Guyana achieved independence from the UK in 1966, but until the early 1990s it was ruled mostly by socialist-oriented governments. In 1992, Cheddi JAGAN was elected president, in what is considered the country's first free and fair election since independence. Upon his death five years later, he was succeeded by his wife Janet, who resigned in 1999 due to poor health. Her successor, Bharrat JAGDEO, was reelected in 2001. 
]" ^" Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Suriname and Venezuela ^# 5 00 N, 59 00 W ^$ South America ^% `! 214,970 sq km `" 196,850 sq km `# 18,120 sq km ^& slightly smaller than Idaho ^' `! 2,462 km `U Brazil 1,119 km, Suriname 600 km, Venezuela 743 km ^( 459 km ^) `$ 12 nm `I 200 nm `J 200 nm or to the outer edge of the continental margin ^* tropical; hot, humid, moderated by northeast trade winds; two rainy seasons (May to mid-August, mid-November to mid-January) ^+ mostly rolling highlands; low coastal plain; savanna in south ^, `% Atlantic Ocean 0 m `& Mount Roraima 2,835 m ^- bauxite, gold, diamonds, hardwood timber, shrimp, fish ^. `' 2.44% `( 0.15% `) 97.41% (2001) ^/ 1,500 sq km (1998 est.) ^0 flash floods are a constant threat during rainy seasons ^1 water pollution from sewage and agricultural and industrial chemicals; deforestation _J `K Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94 `L none of the selected agreements ^2 the third-smallest country in South America after Suriname and Uruguay; substantial portions of its western and eastern territories are claimed by Venezuela and Suriname respectively 
]# ^3 765,283 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 26.4% (male 103,054/female 99,279) `+ 68.5% (male 263,953/female 260,000) `, 5.1% (male 16,801/female 22,196) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 26.91 years `- 26.44 years `. 27.4 years (2005 est.) ^6 0.26% (2005 est.) ^7 18.45 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 8.32 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 -7.51 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.05 male(s)/female `0 1.04 male(s)/female `+ 1.02 male(s)/female `, 0.76 male(s)/female `1 1.01 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 33.26 deaths/1,000 live births `- 36.94 deaths/1,000 live births `. 29.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 65.5 years `- 62.86 years `. 68.28 years (2005 est.) ^= 2.05 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> 2.5% (2003 est.) ^? 11,000 (2003 est.) ^@ 1,100 (2003 est.) ^A `2 Guyanese (singular and plural) `3 Guyanese ^B East Indian 50%, black 36%, Amerindian 7%, white, Chinese, and mixed 7% ^C Christian 50%, Hindu 35%, Muslim 10%, other 5% ^D English, Amerindian dialects, Creole, Hindi, Urdu ^E `M age 15 and over has ever attended school `1 98.8% `- 99.1% `. 98.5% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 Co-operative Republic of Guyana `5 Guyana `X British Guiana ^H republic within the Commonwealth ^I Georgetown ^J 10 regions; Barima-Waini, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Demerara-Mahaica, East Berbice-Corentyne, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, Mahaica-Berbice, Pomeroon-Supenaam, Potaro-Siparuni, Upper Demerara-Berbice, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo ^K 26 May 1966 (from UK) ^L Republic Day, 23 February (1970) ^M 6 October 1980 ^N based on English common law with certain admixtures of Roman-Dutch law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `6 President Bharrat JAGDEO (since 11 August 1999); note - assumed presidency after resignation of President Janet JAGAN `7 Prime Minister Samuel HINDS (since December 1997) `8 Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president, responsible to the legislature `9 president elected by the majority party in the National Assembly following legislative elections, which must be held at least every five years; elections last held 19 March 2001 (next to be held by March 2006); prime minister appointed by the president `: President Bharrat JAGDEO reelected; percent of legislative vote - NA% ^Q unicameral National Assembly (68 seats, 65 elected by popular vote, 1 elected Speaker of the National Assembly, and 2 nonvoting members appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms) `9 last held 19 March 2001 (next to be held March 2006) `: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PPP/C 34, PNC 27, GAP and WPA 2, ROAR 1, TUF 1 ^R Supreme Court of Judicature; Judicial Court of Appeal; High Court ^S Alliance for Guyana or AFG (includes Guyana Labor Party or GLP and Working People's Alliance or WPA) [Rupert ROOPNARAINE]; Guyana Action Party or GAP [Paul HARDY]; Guyana Labor Party or GLP [leader NA]; People's National Congress or PNC [Robert Herman Orlando CORBIN]; People's Progressive Party/Civic or PPP/C [Bharrat JAGDEO]; Rise, Organize, and Rebuild or ROAR [Ravi DEV]; The United Force or TUF [Manzoor NADIR]; Working People's Alliance or WPA [Rupert ROOPNARAINE] ^T Civil Liberties Action Committee or CLAC; Guyana Council of Indian Organizations or GCIO; Trades Union Congress or TUC note: the GCIO and the CLAC are small and active but not well organized ^U ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OIC, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `N Ambassador Bayney KARRAN `O 2490 Tracy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 `P [1] (202) 265-6900 `Q [1] (202) 232-1297 `R New York ^W `N Ambassador Roland BULLEN `Z 100 Young and Duke Streets, Kingston, Georgetown `[ P. O. Box 10507, Georgetown `P [592] 225-4900 through 4909 `Q [592] 225-8497 ^X green, with a red isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) superimposed on a long, yellow arrowhead; there is a narrow, black border between the red and yellow, and a narrow, white border between the yellow and the green 
]% ^Y The Guyanese economy exhibited moderate economic growth in 2001-02, based on expansion in the agricultural and mining sectors, a more favorable atmosphere for business initiatives, a more realistic exchange rate, fairly low inflation, and the continued support of international organizations. Growth then slowed in 2003 and came back gradually in 2004, buoyed largely by increased export earnings. Chronic problems include a shortage of skilled labor and a deficient infrastructure. The government is juggling a sizable external debt against the urgent need for expanded public investment. The bauxite mining sector should benefit in the near term from restructuring and partial privatization. ^Z $2.899 billion (2004 est.) ^[ 1.9% (2004 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $3,800 (2004 est.) ^] `; 38.3% `< 19.9% `= 41.8% (2004 est.) ^^ 418,000 (2001 est.) ^_ agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% ^` 9.1% (understated) (2000) ^a NA _! `> NA `? NA _" 4.5% (2004 est.) _P 34.5% of GDP (2004 est.) _# `@ $287.6 million `A $371.6 million, including capital expenditures of $93.4 million (2004 est.) _$ sugarcane, rice, wheat, vegetable oils; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish, shrimp _% bauxite, sugar, rice milling, timber, textiles, gold mining _& 7.1% (1997 est.) _' 808 million kWh (2002) _( 751.4 million kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 11,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _X $-129.4 million (2004 est.) _/ $570.2 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) _0 sugar, gold, bauxite/alumina, rice, shrimp, molasses, rum, timber _1 Canada 23.2%, US 19.2%, UK 10.9%, Portugal 9%, Belgium 6.4%, Jamaica 5.2% (2004) _2 $650.1 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) _3 manufactures, machinery, petroleum, food _4 Trinidad and Tobago 24.8%, US 24.5%, Cuba 6.8%, UK 5.4% (2004) _Y $280.6 million (2004 est.) _5 $1.2 billion (2002) _6 $84 million (1995), Heavily Indebted Poor Country Initiative (HIPC) $253 million (1997) _7 Guyanese dollar (GYD) _8 Guyanese dollars per US dollar - 198.33 (2004), 193.88 (2003), 190.67 (2002), 187.32 (2001), 182.43 (2000) _9 calendar year 
]& _: 80,400 (2002) _; 87,300 (2002) _< `B fair system for long-distance service `C microwave radio relay network for trunk lines `D country code - 592; tropospheric scatter to Trinidad; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) _= AM 3, FM 3, shortwave 1 (1998) _> 3 (one public station; two private stations which relay US satellite services) (1997) _? .gy _@ 613 (2003) _A 125,000 (2002) 
]' _e `! 187 km `b 139 km 1.435-m gauge `c 48 km 0.914-m gauge note: all dedicated to ore transport (2001 est.) _B `! 7,970 km `E 590 km `F 7,380 km (1999 est.) _b 1,077 km note: Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo rivers are navigable by oceangoing vessels for 150 km, 100 km, and 80 km respectively (2004) _C Georgetown _K `! 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 7,475 GRT/8,758 DWT by type: cargo 5, refrigerated cargo 1 `\ 3 (2005) _D 49 (2004 est.) _E `! 8 `^ 3 `T 5 (2004 est.) _L `! 41 `^ 1 `_ 8 `T 32 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Guyana Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Corps, Guyana People's Militia _] males age 18-49: 206,098 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 137,964 (2005 est.) _N $6.5 million (2003) _O 0.9% (2004) 
]) _H all of the area west of the Essequibo (river) is claimed by Venezuela preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims before UNCLOS that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into their waters; Suriname claims a triangle of land between the New and Kutari/Koetari rivers in a historic dispute over the headwaters of the Courantyne; Guyana seeks UNCLOS arbitration to resolve the long-standing dispute with Suriname over the axis of the territorial sea boundary in potentially oil-rich waters _I transshipment point for narcotics from South America - primarily Venezuela - to Europe and the US; producer of cannabis 