-Guyana is on the northern coast of the continent. It is bordered by Venezuela on the west, Suriname on the east, and Brazil on the south.
-The border is closed between Venezuela and Guyana due to a longstanding border dispute, so there are no roads between them.
-As a former British colony, Guyana is the only English speaking country in South America. Writing on the board next year is going to be quite interesting until I learn the British spelling of words!
-The population is about 750,000, mostly concentrated around Georgetown, the capital
-Guyana is home to one of the most pristine tropical rainforests. It also has Kaiteur falls, which is considered the largest single drop waterfall in the world (by volume of water that flows over it. It is not tallest--that title goes to Angel Falls in Venezuela).
-The population is primarily East Indian and Afro-Guyanese. There are also small populations of Amerindian (the indigenous people) Chinese, and Caucasian citizens.
-The ancestors of the Afro-Guyanese were brought by the British as slaves. When Britain abolished slavery, these former slaves refused to continue working on the plantations, so the British transported East Indians to Guyana to replace them as laborers.
-Due to its history, the culture is more similar to the Caribbean islands than to the other Latin American countries in S.A., and Guyana is a member of Caricom, a group of 15 Caribbean nations whose goal is to promote economic integration and cooperation
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And to wrap up, a brief note about Jonestown, which is featured in the article I linked to:
The People's Temple Agricultural Project, also known as Jonestown, was home to members of a cult led by Jim Jones. In November of 1978, 918 people died in a mass suicide after drinking cyanide-laced kool-aid on Jim Jones' order. This incident is the second largest loss of American lives not related to a natural disaster, after September 11th. U.S. congressman Leo Ryan, who had gone to Guyana to investigate complaints against the cult, was shot and killed. He is the only congressman to die in the line of duty.
So the next time you hear or see the phrase "drink the kool-aid", you'll know that this may be its origin...
