Guyana

• tropical;
• hot, humid, moderated by northeast trade winds;
• two rainy seasons (May to August, November to January)

• mostly rolling highlands;
• low coastal plain;
• savanna in south

total:

1.64 cu km/yr (2%/1%/98%)

per capita:

2,187 cu m/yr (2000)

party to:

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

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• 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

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.72 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever and malaria

water contact disease:

leptospirosis (2009)

noun:

Guyanese (singular and plural)

adjective:

Guyanese

conventional long form:

Cooperative Republic of Guyana

conventional short form:

Guyana

former:

British Guiana

name:

Georgetown

geographic coordinates:

6 48 N, 58 10 W

time difference:

UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

chief of state:

• President Bharrat JAGDEO (since 11 August 1999);
• note - assumed presidency after resignation of President Janet JAGAN and was reelected in 2001, and again in 2006

head of government:

Prime Minister Samuel HINDS (since October 1992, except for a period as chief of state after the death of President Cheddi JAGAN on 6 March 1997)

cabinet:

Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president, responsible to the legislature

elections:

• president elected by popular vote as leader of a party list in parliamentary elections, which must be held at least every five years (no term limits);
• elections last held 28 August 2006 (next to be held by August 2011);
• prime minister appointed by the president

election results:

President Bharrat JAGDEO reelected; percent of vote 54.6%

• Alliance for Change or AFC [Raphael TROTMAN and Khemraj RAMJATTAN];
• Guyana Action Party or GAP [Paul HARDY];
• Justice for All Party [C.N. SHARMA];
• People's National Congress/Reform or PNC/R [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];
• The Unity Party [Joey JAGAN];
• Vision Guyana [Peter RAMSAROOP];
• Working People's Alliance or WPA [Rupert ROOPNARAINE]

• Amerindian People's Association;
• Guyana Bar Association;
• Guyana Citizens Initiative;
• Guyana Human Rights Association;
• Guyana Public Service Union or GPSU;
• Private Sector Commission;
• Trades Union Congress

chief of mission:

Ambassador Bayney KARRAN

chancery:

2490 Tracy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 265-6900

FAX:

[1] (202) 232-1297

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador John Melvin JONES

embassy:

US Embassy, 100 Young and Duke Streets, Kingston, Georgetown

mailing address:

P. O. Box 10507, Georgetown; US Embassy, 3170 Georgetown Place, Washington DC 20521-3170

telephone:

[592] 225-4900 through 4909

FAX:

[592] 225-8497

• 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

agriculture:

NA%

industry:

NA%

services:

NA%

lowest 10%:

1.3%

highest 10%:

33.8% (1999)

general assessment:

fair system for long-distance service

domestic:

• microwave radio relay network for trunk lines;
• fixed-line teledensity is about 15 per 100 persons;
• many areas still lack fixed-line telephone services;
• mobile-cellular teledensity reached 37 per 100 persons in 2005

international:

• country code - 592;
• tropospheric scatter to Trinidad;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

total:

7,970 km

country comparison to the world: 142

paved:

590 km

unpaved:

7,380 km (2000)

males age 16-49:

150,307

females age 16-49:

144,622 (2009 est.)

male:

6,625

female:

6,365 (2009 est.)

• 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 arbitration under provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to resolve the long-standing dispute with Suriname over the axis of the territorial sea boundary in potentially oil-rich waters

current situation:

• Guyana is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor;
• most trafficking appears to take place in remote mining camps in the country's interior;
• some women and girls are trafficked from northern Brazil;
• reporting from other nations suggests Guyanese women and girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation to neighboring countries and Guyanese men and boys are subject to labor exploitation in construction and agriculture;
• trafficking victims from Suriname, Brazil, and Venezuela transit Guyana en route to Caribbean destinations

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - for a second consecutive year, Guyana is on the Tier 2 Watch List for failing to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking, particularly in the area of law enforcement actions against trafficking offenders;
• the government has yet to produce an anti-trafficking conviction under the comprehensive Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, which became law in 2005;
• the government operates no shelters for trafficking victims, but did include limited funding for anti-trafficking NGOs in its 2008 budget;
• the government did not make any effort to reduce demand for commercial sex acts during 2007 (2008)

• transshipment point for narcotics from South America - primarily Venezuela - to Europe and the US;
• producer of cannabis;
• rising money laundering related to drug trafficking and human smuggling