CO-OPERATIVE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA Official name: Co-operative Republic of Guyana) Location: South America International organisations: The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, The Commonwealth of Nations, The Non-Aligned Movement, The Organisation of American States, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation Borders: Brazil, Surinam, Venezuela Coastline: North Atlantic Ocean Land area: 214,970 Km2 Population: 700,000 Ethnicity: East Indian 50%, Black African 36%, Amerindian 7%, other and mixed 7% Languages: English is the official language and is widely understood. Most of the population speak an English creole. Hindi and Urdu are spoken in the Indian communities. African languages survive in some communities. Religion: Christian of various denominations 50%, Hindu 35% Sunni Moslem 10%.

Form of government: Parliamentary democratic republic. Guyana is divided into ten regions.
Capital: Georgetown
Constitution: The Constitution of Guyana came into effect on 6 October 1980. It was substantially amended in 1996.
Head of state: The President, chosen by the legislature for a five-year term. President Bharrat Jagdeo assumed office on 11 August 1999.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President. The Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the legislature and is accountable to it.
Legislature: Guyana has a unicameral legislature, the Parliament of Guyana, which has 68 members, of whom 65 are elected by proportional representation for five-year terms and three are appointed by the President.
Electoral authority: The Guyana Elections Commission administers elections.
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 2, Civil Liberties 2

Political history The coast of Guyana was settled by the Dutch in the 16th century, but the area was ceded to Britain in 1796, and in 1831 became the colony of British Guiana. African slaves were imported to work on plantations, but when slavery was abolished the planters turned to imported Indian labour instead, producing a population divided between Christian ' African and Hindu or Moslem Indians (now known as Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese). Agitation for constitutional development began after World War II, and in May 1953 inetrnal self-government was granted. The radical People's Progressive Party (PPP) led by Forbes Burnham, an Afro-Guyanese, and Dr Cheddi Jagan, an Indo-Guyanese, came to office with Jagan as Chief Minister. But British and American fears about the PPP's Marxist tendencies led to the suspension of the constitution in October. Fresh elections were held in 1961, when Jagan returned to office. The British then engineered a split in the PPP, with a breakaway group led by Burnham forming the People's National Congress (PNC). This split led to a permanant rift between Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese which has continued ever since. Burnham came to power in 1964 and soon established a one-party state. In 1980 he promulgated a new constitution under which he became executive President until his death in 1985. His successor Desmond Hoyte continued in power until 1992.

Under international pressure Hoyte allowed a return to free elections in 1992, and the PPP, which had always had majority support, returned to power with Jagan as President. In 1996 the constitution was changed to allow a return to parliamentary government. Jagan died in 1997 but the PPP under Bharrat Jagdeo and Sam Hinds has remained in power.