Guyana

__​*~Gu ya n a~*  __

**__Introduction~__** Guyana, the land of many waters, is a country on the northern coast of South America. It was discovered by Europeans in the late 1400's, and after being in a tug-of-war for a very long time with Spain, France, Dutch, and Britian, it finally won its independence in 1966. Guyana is one of the smallest countries in South America in area, and only contains 770,000 citizens. Guyana is one of the four countries that doesn't speak Spanish in South America, having English be is its official language. This country has a lot of geographical biodiversity and landmarks in its five main natural regions.



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per km² ||
 * ~ Region ||~ Area km² ||~ Population ||~ Population
 * 1 || [|Barima-Waini] || 20,339 || 24,275 || 1.2 ||
 * 2 || [|Pomeroon-Supenaam] || 6,195 || 49,253 || 8.0 ||
 * 3 || [|Essequibo Islands-West Demerara] || 2,232 || 103,061 || 46.2 ||
 * 4 || [|Demerara-Mahaica] || 1,843 || 310,320 || 168.4 ||
 * 5 || [|Mahaica-Berbice] || 3,755 || 52,428 || 14.0 ||
 * 6 || [|East Berbice-Corentyne] || 36,234 || 123,695 || 3.4 ||
 * 7 || [|Cuyuni-Mazaruni] || 47,213 || 17,597 || 0.3 ||
 * 8 || [|Potaro-Siparuni] || 20,051 || 10,095 || 0.5 ||
 * 9 || [|Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo] || 57,750 || 19,387 || 1.3 ||
 * 10 || [|Upper Demerara-Berbice] || 19,387 || 41,112 || 2.1 ||
 * || **Guyana** || **214,999** || **751,223** || **3.49** ||

**This is the Guyana ** ** flag each color represents something that im going to tell you. __Green__ :** ** signifies african like forests and a folliage

__ Red __: symbolizes the zest and quality of people in Guyana ** ** __ White/black __ :** **white stands for rivers and black signifies endurance** __ ** Yellow ** __ ** : Brings minerals and hope to have a bright future ahead of them

This flag was designed by an American vexillogist by Whitney Smith. Vexillology is the study of flags.**

**Cricket is the most popular sport in Guyana.**

 **__Olympic History-__**Guyana competed in 14 summer olympics; and recieved a few gold medals. Since they are not a large country, and dont compete in that many events they do not own many medels to their name. . They also have never competed in winter olympics because of the obvious reason that in doesn't snow in Guyana do to the fact that it is located right by the equator! The picture above is of Adam Harris who is an athlete from Guyana.

They also play golf, soccer, box and play field hockey.

**__Coat of Arms-__** ​Guyana's Coat of Arms was given to them by the UK when they were controlled by them, on February 25, 1966. This was after Queen Elizebeth II introduced it January 21, 1966. The Coat of Arms shows:
 * __ Crest- __** that symbolizes the crest of the Amerindian head dress of the indiginous people called Cacique's Crown
 * __ Diamonds- __** two diamonds at the side of the crest represent Guyana's mining industry
 * __ Jaguars- __** two jaguars are supporters that hold a pick axe, sugarcane, & stalk of rice. They are the meaning of the industries they represent. The jaguars are of the rainforest in Guyana, and part of its' natural ecosystem.
 * __ Shield- __** the shield shows the Victoria Regia Lily, Guyana's national flower, the three wavy lines represent the three major rivers in Guyana, and it shows the Cunje Pheasent, Guyana's nation bird.
 * __ Scroll- __** below all of this, is Guyana's national motto, it reads "One people, One nation, One destiny," on a scroll



__** MUSIC- **__ The music of Guyana is a mix of Indian, African, European, and also with some native elements. In Guyana, dance bands are popular; so are American, Carribean, Brazilian, and Latin styles.They have bands that are called Wave of String Bands.One Wave of String Band is The Rockets. Popular performers are Terry Gajraj, Mark Holder, Eddy Grant, Dave Martins, and Trade Winds.Shanto is a form of music in Guyana,it is a major form. Calyspo is also considered a major form in Guyana also. media type="youtube" key="YGji0W11BSk" height="216" width="317" Guyana imports two major things,rice and sugar.They also import and export many other things like fruits, gold, rum, fish, timber, and they import and export manufactured goods as well.They export them to the countries Canada, U.S., U.K., and Jamaica.They import with the countries Japan, Netherlands, Antilles, China, India, the Carribean, East Asia, European Union, and U.K. [] __** DANCE- **__Dance in Guyana is a very popular sport.The national dance of Guyana is the swing dance.The Swing Dance is a group of dances that developed from the swing of jazz music.Lindy Hop was a very popular swing dancer.The Rhumba is also a very popular dance in Guyana, Rhumba is a spanish word. It means, 'party.The song and dance of Rhumba came from Cuba.
 * __IMPORTS AND EXPORTS-__**

**__Economy__**- The Economy of Guyana lives off the agriculture of rice and sugar, the mining of bauxite, gold, and minerals, fishing, and timber products. In recent news Guyana's economy has gone up three percent, and is still expected to go higher also. Even though it sound promising, Guyana's economy has its imperfections also. Guyana was in debt, but since it expanded its ag and mining, the debt has gone done reasonably. Even though it has gone through other problems including not enough people applying for jobs, and not enough basic physical/ organizational structure in jobs, and other structures that are needed for society commericial business. Recently in 2007, Guyana's goverment made a major overhaul of its tax code. Called VAT ( Value Added Tax) **__Did You Know?__**​ - Production of balata or natural latex used to be a huge business in Guyana - The sap (balata) was taken from the Kanuku Mountain foothills where many of the balata trees are - But since many people have cut down the tree to get its sap instead of illitcit bleeding. out most of the balata trees are gone now - Illitcit bleeding is when a person cuts the side of a tree and lets the sap run out and capturing it in something - A little like maple syrup in the US - Balata can be used for making cricket balls, temporate fillings for tooth cavities, and crafting of figurines/ decorative items



__**Guyanaese Food-**__ In Guyana there are many types of food, used in many different types of ways. The Guyanaese rely on food staples like rice, bread, cassava, roti, meats, and fish. Many of their dishes have been curried, or in other words many spices like tumeric, coriander, red pepper, and cumin are added, making the dish spicier. Guyanaese eat many fruits and vegetables when they are in season expecially foods with high carbs. There are plenty of meats in Guyana, but many are dirty and many of the chickens contain salmonilla. Eww. __**Breakfast-**__ Breakfast is not considered the most important meal of the day here! Traditionally, homemade bread is eaten with either milk, cheese, and/or butter. On special occasions eggs are eaten also, cooking styles for the eggs are different within every part of Guyana.[|Homemade Bread]

__**Lunch**__- Lunch can consist of a main food staple (like rice), and then the skys the limit. Meats are added on top curried with other green vegetables. Fish can be grilled with plantians (type of banana)[|Rice and Chicken Curried]

** __Dinner-__ ** Many dinner dishes are like lunch dishes consisting of basics that will keep you going. Roti can be eaten with rice, cassava, bread, and yams are other dishes that are eaten in Guyana.[|Roti and Curry]

__**Malnutrition in Guyana**__​ Even though Guyana exceeds the FAO (Food Ag Organization) nutritional intake. With calorie intake at 2,450 cal. {10-20 cal. over} and 62.7 grams of protein eaten also, there is still a very important problem facing Guyana, malnutrition. Malnutrition is a problem in many rural areas where there is a lack of vitamin A, iron, folic acid, and protein. one fifth of the humans that have malnutrition are younger than the age of five. The goverment of Guyana is said to be discussing the issue right now.