Guyana

Interesting Facts About Guyana

• About 90% of Guyana's population lives along a narrow coastal strip that makes up only approximately 10% of the nation's total land area
• Guyana's population is racially and ethnically heterogeneous, with ethnic groups originating from India, Africa, Europe, and China, as well as Indigenous peoples
• The Indo-Guyanese (East Indians), descendants of indentured labourers from India, make up 43.5% of the population according to the 2002 census
• There are nine Indigenous nations in Guyana, defined by language: the Akawaio, Lokono, Arekuna (Pemon), Carib (Karinya), Makushi, Patamona, Wai Wai, Wapichan, and Warao
• English is the official language, but the vast majority of the population speaks Guyanese Creole, an English-based creole with slight African, Indian, and Amerindian influences, as their first language
• In 2012, the population was 64% Christian, 25% Hindu, 7% Muslim, 3% irreligious and 1% of other faiths
• The Afro-Guyanese population mainly descends from West African ethnicities including the Ashanti from Ghana, the Yoruba from Southwest Nigeria, and the Igbo from South-Eastern Nigeria

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