1986 Edition

Agriculture

main crops — rice, palm products, root crops, coconuts, peanuts, wood

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

Airfields

54 total, 46 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 6 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m

70 total, 67 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; 12 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Branches

People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP); Army, Navy, and Air Force are separate components

Executive President, who appoints and heads a cabinet; unicameral legislature (53-member National Assembly) elected by proportional representation every five years

Guyana Defense Force (including Maritime Corps and Air Corps), Guyana Police Force, Guyana People's Milita, Guyana National Service

Budget

(1983 est.) revenues, $12.2 million; current expenditures, $27.4 million; investment expenditures, $27.9 million

est. revenues, $167 million; expenditure $366 million (1984)

Capital

Georgetown

Civil air

2 major transport aircraft

5 major transport aircraft

CNF

$399 million (1984), $510 per capita; real growth 4.0% (1984)

Coastline

459 km People

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

Elections

last held in December 1985 Political parties and leaders: People's National Congress (PNC), Hugh Desmond Hoyte; 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 (DLM), Dr. Paul Tennassee

Electric power

22,200 kW capacity (1985); 38 million kWh produced (1985), 44 kWh per capita

200,000 kW capacity (1985); 485 million kWh produced (1985), 630 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

51% East Indian, 43% black and mixed, 4% Amerindian, 2% European and Chinese

Exports

$8.6 million (1983); principally peanuts; also palm kernels, shrimp, fish, lumber

$212 million (f.o.b., 1984 prelim.); bauxite, sugar, rice, shrimp, molasses, timber, rum

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 6,000 metric tons (1983)

GDP

$154 million (FY83), $180 per capita, real growth rate -5.1% (1983)

Government leader

Hugh Desmond HOYTE, President (since August 1985); Hamilton GREEN, Prime Minister (since August 1985)

Highways

approx. 3,218 km (418 km bituminous, remainder earth)

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

Imports

$57.1 million (1983); foodstuffs, manufactured goods, fuels, transport equipment

$222 million (c.i.f., 1984 prelim.); manufactures, machinery, food, petroleum

Infant mortality rate

41/1 ,000 (1985)

Inland waterways

scattered stretches are important to coastal commerce

6,000 km total of navigable waterways; Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo Rivers are navigable by oceangoing vessels for 150 km, 100 km, and 80 km, respectively

Labor force

200,000(1983); 44.5% industry and commerce, 33.8% agriculture, 21.7% services; 64% public sector employment; approximately 25% unemployed (1984)

Land boundaries

2,575 km Water

Language

English, Amerindian dialects

Legal system

based on English common law with certain admixtures of RomanDutch law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Life expectancy

70

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (200 nm exclusive economic zone)

Literacy

85%

Major industries

agricultural processing, beer, soft drinks

bauxite mining, sugar and rice milling, timber fishing (shrimp), textiles, gold mining

Major trade partners

mostly Portugal, Spain, and other European countries

exports — 29% UK, 17% US, 17% CARICOM, 6% Canada; imports—33% CARICOM, 21% US, 11% UK, 3% Canada (1983)

Member of

CARICOM, CDB, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDE — 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, 201,000; 1 17,000 fit for military service North At /antic See regional mip IV Land 214,970 km2; the size of Idaho; 66% forest; 22% water, urban, and waste; 8% savanna; 3% pasture; 1 % cropland

males 15-49, 199,000; 158,000 fit for military service

Monetary conversion rate

83.528 Guinea Bissauan pesos=US$l (November 1984)

G$4.15=US$1 (September 1985)

National holiday

Republic Day, 23 February

Nationality

noun — Guyanese (sing., pi.); adjective — Guyanese

Natural resources

potential petroleum, bauxite, phosphates

bauxite, gold, diamonds, hardwood timber, shrimp, fish

Official name

Cooperative Republic of

Organized labor

34% of labor force Government

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

6 government districts

Population

771,000(July 1986), average annual growth rate 0.3%

Ports

1 major (Bissau)

1 major (Georgetown), 6 minor

Railroads

none

187 km total, all single track 0.914-meter gauge

Religion

57% Christian, 33% Hindu, 9% Muslim, 1% other

Suffrage

universal adult over age 18

Telecommunications

limited system of open-wire lines, radio-relay links, and radiocommunication stations; 3,000 telephones (0.5 per 100 popl.); 1 AM station, 1 FM station, no TV stations Defense Forces

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, no TV stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station Defense Forces

Type

republic within Commonwealth

Vot ing strength

( 1985 election, unofficial returns) 78% PNC (42 seats), 16% PPP (8 seats), 4% UF (2 seats), 2% WPA (1 seat)