GUYANA
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LAND
214,970 km2; 1% cropland, 3% pasture, 8% savanna, 66% forested, 22% water, urban, and waste
Land boundaries: 2,575 km
WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 12 nm (fishing 200 nm; economic zone 200 nm)
Coastline: 459 km
PEOPLE
Population: 870,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.5%
Nationality: noun—Guyanese (sing., pl.); adjective—Guyanese
Ethnic divisions: 51% East Indians, 43% Negro and Negro mixed, 4% Amerindian, 2% white and Chinese
Religion: 57% Christian, 33% Hindu, 9% Muslim, 1% other
Language: English
Literacy: 86%
Labor force: 242,000 (1975); 29% agriculture, 31% manufacturing/mining, 40% services; 21% unemployed
Organized labor: 34% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Official name: Cooperative Republic of Guyana
Type: republic within Commonwealth
Capital: Georgetown
Political subdivisions: 10 government districts
Legal system: based on English common law with certain admixtures of Roman-Dutch law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: 23 February
Branches: Council of Ministers presided over by Prime Minister; 65-member unicameral legislative National Assembly (elected), including 12 seats elected by local councils; Supreme Court Government leader: Executive President L. F. S. BURNHAM
Suffrage: universal over age 18 as of constitutional amendment August 1973
Elections: last held in December 1980, following promulgation of new constitution (on 6 October) replacing British-drafted constitution
Political parties and leaders: People's National Congress (PNC), L. F. S. Burnham; People's Progressive Party (PPP), Cheddi Jagan; Working People's Alliance (WPA), Rupert Roopnarine, Olive Thomas, Walter Omawale, Eusi Kwayana; United Force (UF), Feilden Singh
Voting strength (1980 election, unofficial returns): 77.60% PNC, 19.46% PPP, 2.88% UF
Communists: est. 100 hardcore within PPP; top echelons of PPP and PYO (Progressive Youth Organization, militant wing of the PPP) include many Communists, but rank and file is conservative and non-Communist; small but unknown number of orthodox Marxist-Leninists within PNC, some of whom are PPP turncoats
Other political or pressure groups: Trades Union Congress (TUC); Working People's Vanguard Party (WPVP); 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: CARICOM, CDB, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO
ECONOMY
GNP: $555 million (1980), $700 per capita; real growth 1981, -6% proj.
Agriculture: main crops—sugarcane, rice, other food crops; food shortages—wheat flour, cooking oil, processed meat, dairy products
Major industries: bauxite mining, alumina production, sugar and rice milling, timber
Electric power: 200,000 kW capacity (1981); 520 million kWh produced (1981), 530 kWh per capita
Exports: $389 million (f.o.b., 1980); bauxite, sugar, rice, alumina, shrimp, molasses, timber, rum
Imports: $425 million (c.i.f., 1980); manufactures, machinery, food, petroleum
Major trade partners: exports—28% UK, 21% US, 14% CARICOM, 6% Canada; imports—22% US, 23% UK, 35% CARICOM, 4% Canada (1980)
Budget: revenue $183 million, expenditure $373 million (1980)
Monetary conversion rate: managed according to basket of currencies; G$3=US$1 (June 1981)
Fiscal year: calendar year
