1983 Edition

Agriculture

main crops — sugarcane, rice, other food crops; food shortages — wheat flour, cooking oil, processed meat, dairy products

Airfields

87 total, 86 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; 1 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Branches

Council of Ministers presided over by Prime Minister; unicameral legislature (65-member National Assembly) elected, including 12 seats elected by local councils; High Court

Guyana Defense Force (including Maritime Corps and Air Corps), Guyana Police Force

Budget

est. revenue $200 million, expenditure $381 million (1983)

Capital

Georgetown

Civil air

2 major transport aircraft

Communists

est. 100 hardcore within PPP; top echelons of PPP and PYO (Progressive Youth Organization, militant wing of the Haiti 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

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), Forbes Burnham; People's Progressive Party (PPP), Cheddi Jagan; Working People's Alliance (WPA), Rupert Roopnarine, Clive Thomas, Walter Omawale, Eusi Kwayana, Moses Bhagwan, Kenneth Persand; United Force (UF), Feilden Singh; Vanguard for Liberation and Democracy (VLD; also known as Liberator Party), Ganraj Kumar, Dr. J. K. Makepeace Richmond; Democratic Labor Movement, Dr. Paul Tennassee

Electric power

200,000 kW capacity (1983); 265 million kWh produced (1983), 320 kWh per capita

Exports

$241 million (c.i.f., 1982); bauxite, sugar, rice, shrimp, molasses, timber, rum

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

GNP

$430 million (1982), $539 per capita; real growth 1982, -10% est.

Government leader

Linden Forbes Sampson BURNHAM, Executive President

Highways

7,665 km total; 550 km paved, 5,000 km gravel, 1,525 km earth, and 590 km unimproved

Imports

$283 million (c.i.f., 1982); manufactures, machinery, food, petroleum

Inland waterways

Demerara and Essequibo Rivers have 5.4-meter depth for 107 km and 80 km respectively; Berbice River is navigable for 169 km with a 3.6-meter depth

Legal system

based on English common law with certain admixtures of Roman-Dutch law; has not accepted compulsory 1CJ jurisdiction

Major industries

bauxite mining, sugar and rice milling, timber

Major trade partners

exports — 28% UK, 21% US, 14% CARICOM, 6% Canada; imports—35% CARICOM, 23% UK, 22% US, 4% Canada (1980)

Member of

CARICOM, CDB, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB — Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO Economy

Military manpower

males 15-49, 213,000; 170,000 fit for military service

Monetary conversion rate

G$3.75=US$1 (January 1984)

National holiday

Republic Day, 23 February

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

Political subdivisions

10 government districts

Ports

1 major (Georgetown), 3 minor

Railroads

110 km total, all single track; 80 km 0.914-meter gauge, 30 km 1.067-meter gauge, privately owned

Suffrage

universal adult over age 18

Telecommunications

fair telecom system with radio-relay network and over 27,000 telephones (3.3 per 100 popl.); tropospheric scatter link to Trinidad; 3 AM, 3 FM, and no TV stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station Defense Forces

Type

republic within Commonwealth

Voting strength

(1980 election, unofficial returns) 77.60% PNC, 19.46% PPP, 2.88% UF