Page:The World Factbook (1990).djvu/147

 Guyana



Geography

Total area: 214,970 km²; land area: 196,850 km²

Comparative area slightly smaller than Idaho

Land boundaries: 2,462 km total; Brazil 1,119 km, Suriname 600 km, Venezuela 743 km

Coastline: 459 km

Maritime claims:
 * Continental shelf: outer edge of continental margin or 200 nm
 * Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
 * Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: Essequibo area claimed by Venezuela; Suriname claims area between New (Upper Courantyne) and Courantyne/Kutari Rivers (all headwaters of the Courantyne)

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

Terrain: mostly rolling highlands; low coastal plain; savanna in south

Natural resources: bauxite, gold, diamonds, hardwood timber, shrimp, fish

Land use: 3% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 83% forest and woodland; 8% other; includes 1% irrigated

Environment: flash floods a constant threat during rainy seasons; water pollution

People

Population: 764,649 (July 1990), growth rate -0.1% (1990)

Birth rate: 24 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: -19 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 40 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 70 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 2.7 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Guyanese (sing., pl.); adjective—Guyanese

Ethnic divisions: 51% East Indian, 43% black and mixed, 4% Amerindian, 2% European and Chinese

Religion: 57% Christian, 33% Hindu, 9% Muslim, 1% other

Language: English, Amerindian dialects

Literacy: 85%

Labor force: 268,000; 44.5% industry and commerce, 33.8% agriculture, 21.7% services; public-sector employment amounts to 60-80% of the total labor force (1985)

Organized labor: 34% of labor force

Government

Long-form name: Co-operative Republic of Guyana

Type: republic

Capital: Georgetown

Administrative divisions: 10 regions; Barima-Waini, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Demerara-Mahaica, East Berbice-Corentyne, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, Mahaica-Berbice, Pomeroon-Supenaam, Potaro-Siparuni, Upper Demerara-Berbice, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo

Independence: 26 May 1966 (from UK; formerly British Guiana)

Constitution: 6 October 1980

Legal system: based on English common law with certain admixtures of Roman-Dutch law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Republic Day, 23 February (1970)

Executive branch: executive president, first vice president, prime minister, first deputy prime minister, Cabinet Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Judicature

Leaders: Chief of State—President Hugh Desmond HOYTE (since 6 August 1985); First Vice President Hamilton GREEN (since 6 August 1985);

Head of Government—Prime Minister Hamilton GREEN (since 6 August 1985)

Political parties and leaders: People's National Congress (PNC), Hugh Desmond Hoyte; People's Progressive Party (PPP), Cheddi Jagan; Working People's Alliance (WPA), Eusi Kwayana, Rupert Roopnarine, Moses Bhagwan; Democratic Labor Movement (DLM), Paul Tennassee; People's Democratic Movement (PDM), Llewellyn John; National Democratic Front (NDF), Joseph Bacchus; United Force (UF), Marcellus Feilden Singh; Vanguard for Liberation and Democracy (VLD, also known as Liberator Party), Gunraj Kumar, J. K. Makepeace Richmond

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections: Executive President—last held on 9 December 1985 (next to be held late 1990); Hugh Desmond Hoyte was elected president (the leader of the party with the most votes in the National Assembly elections—PNC 78%);

National Assembly—last held on 9 December 1985 (next to be held by 9 December 1990); results—PNC 78%, PPP 16%, UF 4%, WPA 2%; seats—(65 total, 53 elected) PNC 42, PPP 8, UF 2, WPA 1

Communists: 100 (est.) hardcore within PPP; top echelons of PPP and PYO (Progressive Youth Organization, militant wing of the PPP) include many Communists; small but unknown number of orthodox Marxist-Leninists within PNC, some of whom formerly belonged to the PPP

Other political or pressure groups: Trades Union Congress (TUC); Guyana Council of Indian Organizations (GCIO); Civil Liberties Action Committee (CLAC); the latter two organizations are small and active but not well organized

Member of: ACP, CARICOM, CCC, CDB, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, ICJ, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Dr. Cedric Hilburn GRANT; Chancery at 2490 Tracy Place NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 265-6900; there is a Guyanese Consulate General in New York; US—Ambassador Theresa A. TULL; Embassy at 31 Main Street, Georgetown; telephone [592](02) 54900 through 54909

Flag: 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

Economy

Overview: After growing on average at less than 1% a year in 1984-87, GDP dropped by 3% in 1988, the result of bad weather, labor trouble in the canefields, and flooding and equipment problems in the bauxite industry. Consumer prices rose about 35%, and the current account deficit widened substantially as sugar and bauxite exports fell. Moreover, electric power is in short supply and constitutes a major barrier to future gains in national output. The government, in association with 131