boundaries:

total: 2,949 km
border countries: Brazil 1,606 km, Suriname 600 km, Venezuela 743 km

Coastline:

459 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the outer edge of the continental
margin

Climate:

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

Terrain:

mostly rolling highlands; low coastal plain; savanna in south

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Roraima 2,835 m

Natural resources:

bauxite, gold, diamonds, hardwood timber, shrimp, fish

Land use:

arable land: 2.23%
permanent crops: 0.14%
other: 97.63% (2005)

Irrigated land:

1,500 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

241 cu km (2000)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 1.64 cu km/yr (2%/1%/98%)
per capita: 2,187 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

flash floods are a constant threat during rainy seasons

Environment - current issues:

water pollution from sewage and agricultural and industrial
chemicals; deforestation

Environment - international agreements:

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

Geography - note:

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

People
Guyana

Population:

770,794
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, higher death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 25.9% (male 101,712/female 97,907)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 267,239/female 262,188)
65 years and over: 5.4% (male 17,610/female 24,138) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 28.2 years
male: 27.7 years
female: 28.7 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.211% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

17.85 births/1,000 populat