1.
Guyana
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Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a sovereign state on the northern mainland of South America. It is, however, included in the Caribbean Region due to its cultural, historical. Guyana is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Brazil to the south and southwest, Suriname to the east, with 215,000 square kilometres, Guyana is the fourth-smallest country on mainland South America after Uruguay, Suriname and French Guiana. The region known as the Guianas consists of the large landmass north of the Amazon River. Originally inhabited by indigenous groups, Guyana was settled by the Dutch before coming under British control in the late 18th century. It was governed as British Guiana, with mostly a plantation style economy until the 1950s and it gained independence in 1966, and officially became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. The legacy of British rule is reflected in the political administration and diverse population, which includes Indian, African, Amerindian. Guyana is the only South American nation in which English is the official language, the majority of the population, however, speak Guyanese Creole, an English-based creole language, as a first language. In addition to being part of the Anglophone Caribbean, Guyana is one of the few Caribbean countries that is not an island in the West Indies, CARICOM, of which Guyana is a member, is headquartered in Guyanas capital and largest city, Georgetown. In 2008, the joined the Union of South American Nations as a founding member. The name Guyana is derived from Guiana, the name for the region that formerly included Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Guyana is derived from an Indigenous Amerindian language, there are nine indigenous tribes residing in Guyana, the Wai Wai, Macushi, Patamona, Lokono, Kalina, Wapishana, Pemon, Akawaio and Warao. Historically the Lokono and Kalina tribes dominated Guyana, although Christopher Columbus sighted Guyana during his third voyage, the Dutch were the first to establish colonies, Essequibo, Berbice, and Demerara. After the British assumed control in 1796, the Dutch formally ceded the area in 1814, in 1831 the three separate colonies became a single British colony known as British Guiana. Since its Independence in 1824 Venezuela has claimed the area of land to the west of the Essequibo River, in 1899 an international tribunal ruled the land belonged to Great Britain. Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966 and became a republic on 23 February 1970, the US State Department and the US Central Intelligence Agency, along with the British government, played a strong role in influencing political control in Guyana during this time. The American government supported Forbes Burnham during the years of independence because Cheddi Jagan was identified as a Marxist. In 1978, Guyana received international notice when 918 members of the American cult, Peoples Temple, however, most of the suicides were by Americans and not Guyanese
2.
Georgetown, Guyana
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Georgetown is the capital of Guyana, located in Region 4, which is also known as the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is the countrys largest urban centre and it is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed Garden City of the Caribbean. Georgetown serves primarily as a retail and administrative centre and it also serves as a financial services centre. The city recorded a population of 118,363 in the 2012 census, the city of Georgetown began as a small town in the 18th century. Originally, the capital of the Demerara-Essequibo colony was located on Borselen Island in the Demerara River under the administration of the Dutch and it was the French who made it a capital city when they colonized it in 1782. The French called the capital Longchamps, when the town was restored to the Dutch in 1784, it was renamed Stabroek after Nicolaas Geelvinck, Lord of Stabroek, and President of the Dutch West India Company. Eventually the town expanded and covered the estates of Vlissengen, La Bourgade and Eve Leary to the North and it was renamed Georgetown on 29 April 1812 in honour of King George III. The ordinance provided that the districts of Georgetown shall be known by their own names. The supervision of Georgetown was to be done by a chosen by the Governor. Estimates of expenditure were to be prepared, by 1806 the owner of Vlissingen asked to be exempted from the responsibility of maintaining the road which is now called Camp Street, but the Court refused the request. In 1810 the maintenance of the roads in the area called Georgetown cost 11,000 guilders per annum, the governing body of Georgetown was once a Board of Police. The Board of Police was chosen by the governor and the Court of Policy and it came into existence as the result of disputes among various organisations which controlled the districts. The Board met monthly but what was discussed is not on the records between 1825 and 1837, newspapers in the colony were prohibited by law from reporting public matters. The post of Commisary of Police was not regarded as important, people elected to the Board invariably declined to attend meetings and never gave reasons for their refusal. It was, therefore, decided that individuals elected to the Board were bound to serve for two years, or suffer a penalty of 1,000 guilders, the Board of Police was abolished when an ordinance was passed to establish a Mayor and Town Council. Georgetown gained official city status on 24 August 1842 during the reign of Queen Victoria, the names of Georgetowns wards and streets reflect the influence of the Dutch, French and English who administered the town at different periods of history. Cummingsburg was originally named Plantation La Bourgade by its first owner and it was laid out in streets and building lots by its second proprietor, Thomas Cuming, a Scotsman, from whom it gets its current name. He made a presentation of the Militia Parade Ground and Promenade Gardens to the town as a gift and it is noteworthy that Carmichael Street was named after General Hugh Lyle Carmichael who served as Governor from 1812 to 1813
3.
Guyanese in the United Kingdom
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Guyanese in the United Kingdom are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose origins lie in Guyana. At the time of the 2001 UK Census there were 20,872 Guyanese-born people in the UK. In 2001, Guyana was the sixth most common birthplace within the Americas for people in the UK, estimates published by the Office for National Statistics suggest that the Guyanese-born population of the UK was 24,000 in 2009. It is, however, claimed that this trend of success in the field has not continued through to the second-, the late Beryl Gilroy was a significant figure within the Afro-Caribbean diaspora in the UK. This highly respected Guyanese-born novelist became the first black headteacher of any school in the country. Another important literary figure of the Guyanese British community in the UK as a whole is John Agard, pauline Melvilles output of work has led to such awards as Guardian Fiction Prize, the Macmillan Silver Pen Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for best first book. Indo-Guyanese writer David Dabydeen, a UK resident, has interests that encompass the slave-trading history of Guyana as well as contemporary Caribbean culture in the UK, other UK-based writers of Guyanese origin include Fred DAguiar, Mike Phillips, and Jan Shinebourne. The music of Guyana is a mix of Indian, African, European and it is similar to the music of various other Caribbean nations, where reggae, soca and calypso prove the most popular. These forms of music have worked their way into British life by the Guyanese community of the UK, the influence of Caribbean music in the United Kingdom is evident in many walks of life, the work of many contemporary artists is based in the reggae and calypso styles. Eddy Grant, a Guyanese-born immigrant to the UK, helped popularise such genres as reggae through his global hits such as Electric Avenue and we are not Sony, and the artists on board realise it will take time. Despite this, as the Guyanese community in the UK has advanced into its second and third generations, british-born individuals of Guyanese origin have in particular become more mainstream and modernised. The most recent success story of a British singer of Guyanese origin is Leona Lewis and she has attained three number one hits in the UK and it the only solo British female in over two decades to have reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Haring Traditional Guyanese acts and British acts influenced by genres as reggae, soca and calypso can be found in festivals across the country
4.
Guyanese Americans
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Guyanese Americans are Americans who can trace their ancestry back to Guyana. After the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom, in 1966, many of the first Guyanese immigrants to the United States were of African descent. They were women who were recruited as workers or nursing assistants. Prior to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 Guyanese of Asian descent faced immigration restrictions because of existence of Asiatic Barred Zone. However, many Guyanese who had studied in the US in the mid 20th century or earlier stayed on in the US, some, the United States has the highest number of Guyanese people outside of Guyana. The Guyanese-American community consists basically of people of Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese origins, as of 1990,80 percent of Guyanese Americans lived in the Northeast. The Guyanese Americans students vary their English accent, depending on whether they are at home or at school, in schools, Guyanese students learn to speak The British English. Some Indo–Guyanese Americans, in addition to speaking English, also speak Hindi, the Indians have religious ceremonies at their houses monthly and they attend a temple. The Indo-Guyanese who are Christian attend a church but there are a lot more Hindus than Christians. They have various centers for Bhajans, the Guyanese have formed their own businesses in the United States, many of which are shops, restaurants of traditional Guyanese cuisine, grocery stores, and jewelry stores. There are also many shops of clothing belonging to Guyanese that sell clothing Indian, in addition to these stores, there are also video playback stores specializing in Bollywood films with English subtitles for those who do not understand Hindi. The Indo - Guyanese Americans try to keep alive their culture and contact with Guyana, hence, they watch movies, listen to music and read books of Guyana and India. In addition, people of Indian - Guyanese descent that do not speak Hindi, try to learn it from their nearby Hindu temples, Guyanese have organized most of the U. S. Caribbean organizations. There are many nurses from Guyana and police associations, shirley Chisholm was the only Congresswoman of Guyanese descent in American history, as well as the first African-American woman elected to the United States Congress. Some of the associations are the Indo-Caribbean American Cultural and Arts Association, The Indo-Caribbean Federation of North America, the development of the cultural groups in the area had made a necessity for announcements of community news. The Guyanese American community has close ties with Guyana and help financially to this country. There is a large ongoing academic exchanges between Guyana and the United States as academic conferences, the Journal of the Caribbean is a Caribbean newspaper important to inform the Indo-Guyanese and other Caribbean groups of their achievements and inform them about the events in Guyana. This newspaper is published weekly and distributed throughout North America, the publications of these papers are written in English
5.
Religion in Guyana
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Christianity and Hinduism are the dominant religions in Guyana. According to the 2012 census, approximately 63 percent of the population is Christian, according to the 2012 census, approximately 25 percent are Hindu,7 percent are Muslim, and 1 percent practice other beliefs, including the Rastafari movement, Buddhism, and the Bahai Faith. More than 3 percent of the population do not profess any religion, between 1991 and 2012, Hinduism, Islam, Catholicism and Mainline Protestant churches all saw significant decline as the national population grew by 3%. This is in contrast to Pentecostalism, which more than doubled, and less-established Christian groups, the country is ethnically diverse, reflecting East Indian, African, Chinese, and European ancestry, as well as a significant indigenous population. Members of all groups are well represented in all religious groups. Foreign missionaries from many groups are present. Christianitys status as Guyanas dominant system of values is a consequence of colonial history, to the European planters, colonial administrators, and missionaries, the profession of Christian beliefs and observance of Christian practices were prerequisites to social acceptance. Even though the planters discouraged the teaching of their religion to the slaves, indeed, after abolition, Christian institutions played an even more important role in the lives of the former slaves than in the lives of the masters. By the time the East Indians and other indentured groups arrived in Guyana, among the Christian denominations active in Guyana in the 1990s, the Anglican Church claimed the largest membership, about 125,000 adherents as of 1986. Anglicanism was the religion of British Guiana until independence. The Roman Catholic Church had a membership of about 94,000 in 1985, the majority of Roman Catholics lived in Georgetown, and the Portuguese were the most active members, although all the ethnic groups were represented. The Presbyterian Church was the third largest denomination, with nearly 39,000 members in 1980, several other Christian churches had significant memberships in 1980, including the Methodists, Pentecostals, and Seventh-day Adventists, each of which had about 20,000 members. There were smaller numbers of Baptists, Jehovahs Witnesses, Congregationalists, Nazarenes, Moravians, Ethiopian Orthodox, other sects in Guyana included the Rastafari movement which looks to Ethiopia for religious inspiration, and the Hallelujah Church, which combines Christian beliefs with Amerindian traditions. There were also at least 60,000 people describing themselves as Christian who had no church affiliation. These groups would have services, bible teachings and discussions at a house or a provided empty location. The number of Guyanese practising Hinduism has been decreasing for many decades now, the majority of the East Indian immigrants were Hindu, and their dominant sect was Vaishnavite Hinduism. Status differences were attached to castes, and rituals varied with caste status, the higher castes worshipped the classic pantheon of Vishnu and Shiva. Vaishnavite Hinduism remains the predominant religion of the Indo-Guyanese, although it has been considerably modified, Orthodox Hinduism stresses the festivities accompanying religious rites
6.
Islam in Guyana
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About 7. 2-10 percent of Guyanas population is Muslim, representing 57, 572-79,961 individuals, many of whom are descended from indentured labourers from India. The largest Islamic organization in the country is the Guyana Islamic Trust, until the 1970s, Muslim holidays were not officially recognized. A number of non-Christian religious days are now public holidays, Muslim holidays include Eid al Fitr, the end of Ramadan, the sacred month of fasting, Id al Adha, the feast of sacrifice, and Mawlid, the birthday of Muhammad. The dates for these vary according to the Islamic calendar. The National United Halaal Authority of Guyana was established in 2011 and this organisation is dedicated to the inspection and certification of Halaal products and food establishments in Guyana. Although other organisations have Halaal boards/committees, N. U. H. A is the first organisation in Guyana whose main objective is Halaal certification, the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana is the oldest Islamic group in Guyana. They are involved in work and orphan sponsorships. The Guyana Islamic Trust is a multi-faceted, not for profit organization which has established since 1978. The GIT has dedicated itself to the process of bringing about intellectual, moral and spiritual improvement to individuals and our fundamental approach is education, since ignorance is the root cause of the intolerance, racism, immorality and criminality that pervades our society and our world. Our belief that Islam holds the perfect solutions to man kinds woes is demonstrated in our of program of Dawah, to bring Allahs message to each, the Guyana Islamic Trust manages its grass root work through fourteen Administrative Districts. The Guyana Islamic Institute remains one of the Caribbeans premier Islamic centers of learning, since its establishment in 1986, scores of students from Guyana and the Caribbean have graduated from a wide range of courses including Arabic Language, Quranic Sciences and Islamic Studies. Many of these graduates have since become Shuyukh, Imaams and Duat and today are serving the Ummah in Guyana, students of these programs are given in-depth tutoring in the areas of, Arabic Language Quranic Sciences Aqeedah Hifz Fiqh Hadith Islamic History Dawah Methodology Seerah Ideology and Concepts. Co-curricular Activities Additionally the curriculum is complemented by studies in Information Technology, enhancement courses in English language. Students of the GII are given experience in Teaching Delivering Khutbahs Dawah to Non-Muslims Organizing and participating in youth activities. Scholarship Guyana and Suriname are the only American countries which are states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http, Central Islamic Organization of Guyana Guyana Islamic Trust
7.
Rastafari
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It developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. There are many sects of Rastafari that have developed over the years and its adherents worship him in much the same way as Jesus in his Second Coming, or as God the Son. Members of the Rastafari way of life are known as Rastafari, Rastas, Rastafari are also known by their official church titles, such as Elder or High Priest. Rastafari has always been conceived as a way of life for, the name Rastafari is taken from Ras Tafari, the title and first name of Haile Selassie I before his coronation. In Amharic, Ras, literally head, is an Ethiopian title equivalent to prince or chief, while the personal given name Täfäri means one who is revered. Yah is a Biblical name of God, from a form of Jahweh or Yahuah found in Psalms 68,4 in the King James Version of the Bible. Most adherents see Haile Selassie I as Jah or Jah Rastafari, an incarnation of God the Father, Rastafari developed in Jamaica during the 1930s, having been influenced by both Ethiopianism and the Back to Africa movement promoted by black nationalist figures like Marcus Garvey. A number of Christian clergymen, most notably Leonard Howell, believed that the crowning of Haile Selassie as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 marked the fulfilment of a Biblical prophecy and this idea generated the Rastafari movement, which spread throughout Jamaica in that decade. By the 1950s the religion has come into conflict with other aspects of the islands society and had spread to other nations. In the 1960s it expanded and began to gain an increasing influence through music, the Rastafari way of life encompasses the spiritual use of cannabis and the rejection of the degenerate society of materialism, oppression, and sensual pleasures, called Babylon. It proclaims Zion, in reference to Ethiopia, as the birthplace of humankind, and from the beginning of the way of life calls for repatriation to Zion. This can mean moving to Ethiopia but also refers to mentally and emotionally repatriating before the physical. Some Rastafari also embrace various Afrocentric and Pan-African social and political aspirations, International awareness of Rastafari grew in the 1970s as a result of the popularity of reggae music, and especially the international success of singer-songwriter Bob Marley. By 1997 there were, according to one estimate, around one million Rastafari worldwide, in the 2011 Jamaican census,29,026 individuals identified themselves as Rastafari. Other sources estimated that in the 2000s they formed about 5% of the population of Jamaica, scholars of religion categorise Rastafari as a new religious movement. Many Rastas themselves do not however regard it as a religion, attempts have been made to summarise Rastafari belief, but these have never been accorded the status of a catechism or creed within the movement. Emphasis is placed on the idea that experience and intuitive understanding should be used to determine the truth or validity of a particular belief or practice. No Rasta therefore has the authority to declare what beliefs and practices are orthodox, the conviction that Rastafari has no dogma is so strong that it has itself become something of a dogma, according to Clarke
This article incorporates public domain material from the Library of Congress Country Studies website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/.
This article incorporates 
