ettlement 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, and since then it has been 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. After his death five years later,
his wife, Jane JAGAN, became president but resigned in 1999 due to
poor health. Her successor, Bharrat JAGDEO, was reelected in 2001
and again in 2006.

Geography Guyana

Location:
Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
Suriname and Venezuela

Geographic coordinates:
5 00 N, 59 00 W

Map references:
South America

Area:
total: 214,970 sq km
land: 196,850 sq km
water: 18,120 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Idaho

Land 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)

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 territ