Some Facts

• Guyana means Land of Many Waters
• Is located between 1 and 9 degrees latitude and 57 and 61 degrees longitude

• Bordered by Venezuela, Suriname, and Brazil
• Three major rivers - Essequibo (has islands!), Demarara, and Berbice.
• Guyana is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, second only to Haiti (I didn't realize that!)
• Exodus of Guyanese has resulted in significant brain drain.
• Population of Guyana (http://www.statisticsguyana.gov.gy/census.html; 2002) is about 750,000 of which about 239,000 live in Georgetown, the capital.
• Most of the population lives along the coast.
• Ethnic groups: East Indian (43.5%); persons of African heritage (30.2%), Mixed heritage (16.7%), Amerindian (9.2%); a very small percentage of "Whites", Portuguese, and Chinese
• Major Guyana's newspapers include:
• Guyana Chronicle - considered to be pro-government news - http://www.guyanachronicleonline.com/)
• Stabroeknews - considered to be balanced http://www.stabroeknews.com/
• Kaiteur News - considered to be anti-government - http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.
• It rains a lot. Rainy season is from May to June and from December to end of January. Rain comes down in heavy bursts in typical tropical style.
• Water for drinking is best boiled or 5 gal water containers can be obtained for pretty cheap
• Electricity and plugs format in urban areas is similar to that of Canada and the US - 110 volts
• Cell phones: Digicel and Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T). Cuso and VSO expats are generally on Digicel (cheaper to call on the same network)