Where is Guyana?
About Guyana
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media
Guyana is a large country in the north of South America.
Guyana has an eastern border on the Atlantic Ocean.
The land is a mixture of highlands and low coastal plains.
The geographical coordinates for the centre of Guyana, also known as lines of latitude and longtitude, are:-
Latitude - 5 00N
Longitude - 59 00W
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The Guyanese flag is green with a
red isosceles triangle on the flag pole side which is superimposed on a yellow arrowhead, again based on the flag pole side but extending across to the far side.
There is a black border between the red and yellow colours and a white border between the yellow and green colours.
We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Guyana to provide us with a detailed history of
their own country. Check how here.
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The total land area of Guyana is 196,849 sq kms which is the 10th largest in South America.
Guyana has lakes, rivers and canals which total 18,120 sq kms.
Guyana has boundaries with 3 countries
Guyana has a coastline of 459 kms which is the 9th longest in South America.
The highest point in Guyana is Laberintos del Norte at 2,775 metres.
The total population of Guyana is 735,909 people, making it the 11th largest country in South America by population.
Of this number 364,472 are females and 371,437 million are males.
A person from Guyana is called a Guyanese.
To be a citizen of Guyana you must be born in Guyana or one of your parents must be a citizen of Guyana. We have no figures for how long you have to live in Guyana for
before you can begin to apply for citizenship.
The largest five cities in Guyana, by population are:-
The birth rate in Guyana is 9.5 births per 1,000 of population
The death rate in Guyana is 11.9 deaths per 1,000 people.
Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then
the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.
There are 27.3 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 35.4 deaths of boys.
The median age for females is 26.2 and for males is 25.5. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number
of people above the median age as below it.
The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 20.8.
The elderly dependency ratio is 7.7. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).
The potential support ratio is 13.3. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
Guyana spends 5.2% of its total income on health care.
There are 0.21 doctors per 1,000 people.
There are 2.0 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
20.2% of the population are estimated as obese.
98.2% of the urban population and 98.3% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or
protected rainwater collection facility.
98.3% of the urban population and 87.9% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer. a pit latrine (that is a
permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.
Guyana spends 3.2% of its total income on education.
Children usually start school at age 5 in Guyana. Primary education is for six years until age 11 and secondary education must continue till 14 but can go on to 16. This may be followed
by further education at a university or college.
Generally the school year consists of 3 terms and starts in the first week of September and finishes at the end of June. There is usually a 2 week
break at Christmas and Easter.
89.8% of females and 87.2% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.
21.6% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 28.0% are unemployed while with males 17.3% can't find work.
The total number of people available for work in Guyana is 313,800.
We have no
figures for the percentage in each sector.
11.1% of the workforce are unemployed.
There are 11 paved airports in Guyana, which is the 10th highest number in South America.
There are no figures for railways in Guyana.
There are 590 kilometres of roads in Guyana, which means Guyana is in 12th and last place for kilometres of roads in South America.