Guyana | Facts & Information

Updated April 25, 2023 | Infoplease Staff

Infoplease has everything you need to know about Guyana. Check out our country profile, full of essential information about Guyana's geography, history, government, economy, population, culture, religion, and languages. If that's not enough, click over to our collection of world maps and flags.

Facts & Figures

  • President: Mohamed Irfaan Ali (2020)

    Prime Minister: Mark Anthony Phillips (2020)

    Land area: 76,004 sq mi (196,850 sq km); Total area: 83,000 sq mi (214,970 sq km)

    Population (2022 est.): 795,550 (growth rate: –0.11%); birth rate: 19.069/1000; infant mortality rate: 25.120/1000; life expectancy: 70.15 years

    Capital and largest city (2022 est.): Georgetown, 240,000

    Monetary unit: Guyanese dollar (GYD)

    Current government officials

    Languages: English (official), Amerindian dialects, Creole, Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Urdu

    Ethnicity/race: East Indian 40%, black (African) 29.5%, 10.5% Indigenous, mixed 19.5%, other 0.5% (2002 census)

    Religions: Christianity 66%, Hinduism 24.9%, Islam 6.4%, Unaffiliated 2.0%, Other 0.5%, Folk/traditional 0.2% (2022 estimate)

    National Holiday: Republic Day, February 23

    Literacy rate: 87.54% (2015)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2022 est.): $30.287 billion; per capita $38,258. Real growth rate: 4.1%. Inflation: 1.8%. Unemployment: 16.43% (2020). Arable land: 2.3%. Labor force: 299,147 (2021 est.); agriculture n.a., industry n.a., services n.a. Agriculture: sugarcane, rice, wheat, vegetable oils; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish, shrimp. Industries: bauxite, sugar, rice milling, timber, textiles, gold mining. Natural resources: bauxite, gold, diamonds, hardwood timber, shrimp, fish. Exports: $4.25 billion (2021): sugar, gold, bauxite/alumina, rice, shrimp, molasses, rum, timber. Imports: $4.15 billion (2021): manufactures, machinery, petroleum, food. Major trading partners: Canada, U.S., UK, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname (2021).

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 130,487 (2021); mobile cellular: 658,000 (2021). Broadcast media: government-dominated broadcast media; the National Communications Network (NCN) TV is state-owned; a few private TV stations relay satellite services; the state owns and operates 2 radio stations broadcasting on multiple frequencies capable of reaching the entire country; government limits on licensing of new private radio stations constrains competition in broadcast media (2022). Internet users: 294,300 (2021).

    Transportation: Highways: total: 3,995 km; paved: 799 km; unpaved: 3,196 km (2019). Waterways: 330 km (the Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo rivers are navigable by oceangoing vessels for 150 km, 100 km, and 80 km respectively) (2022). Ports and terminals: Georgetown. Airports: 2 main, 7 local (2022)

    Major sources and definitions

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