Guyana

Guyana is located on the eastern coast of South America, bordered by Venezuela, Surinam, and Brazil. It is a small country with a long and complicated history. For two centuries, Guyana was a Dutch colony, but in 1815, it became a British possession; it did not gain independence until 1966. During these years of British rule, there was an influx of immigrants from India. So this small South American country has English as its primary language, and the majority of the population is of East Indian descent. Thirty percent of Guyanese are practicing Hindus.

Guyana is about the size of Idaho and has an estimated population of 767,000. The population growth rate only 0.25 percent a year, with 18.28 births per 1,000 people and 8.28 deaths per 1,000 people. The migration rate is deeply in the negative column at minus 7.49 migrants per 1,000 people.

Eighty percent of Guyana is covered by tropical rainforest. Most of the population lives in urbanized coastal areas. The climate is hot and humid, with some relief coming from the northeast trade winds. Winter is the rainy season, and flash flooding is common. In recent years, the government has opened the rainforest to Malaysian logging interests and palm oil producers, which environmentalists warn could devastate local ecosystems.

However, with per capita income for most Guyanese at $990 annually, the government has little choice but to woo foreign investors. The national economy has long depended on agricultural imports such as sugar, rice, molasses, and shrimp, along with gold and bauxite mining, but it is not profitable enough to improve the daily lives of the citizens.

The Guyanese manage to get by on very little. Their average caloric intake is 2,450 per day, which is actually above the recommended averages. Staple foods are peas, rice, bread, and starchy vegetables such as plantain, cassava, and breadfruit. The calories are more than adequate, but malnutrition is still a problem, as this diet lacks key vitamins and protein.

Life expectancy at birth is 63.21 for males and 68.65 for females; healthy life expectancy is 53.1 for men and 57.2 for women. Infant mortality is 32 deaths per 1,000 live births and 64 children in 1,000 die between the ages of 1 to 5 years. Maternal mortality is 170 deaths per 100,000 live births. Eighty-six percent of births are monitored by a trained attendant. About 37 percent of women have access to birth control.

Like most of Latin America, there is a high rate of parasitic infections. About 83 percent of the population has access to clean drinking water and 70 percent can access sanitary facilities. Malaria, typhoid fever, and filariasis are common. Measles remains a problem. Immunization rates for children average about 90 percent for all major childhood diseases, and the country maintains an active malaria-eradi-cation program. Communicable diseases are closely monitored, and the country has not suffered a major epidemic in several years.

The HIV/AIDS rate is 2.5 percent, with an estimated 11,000 Guyanese living with the virus. More than 1,100 have died so far. Tuberculosis rates are also high.

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