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Guyana is located in South America. It is bounded
by the Atlantic Ocean, Venezuela, Brazil and Surinam. Guiana, the land
of many waters, aptly describes the country with its many rivers and extensive
system of waterways. The country has three large rivers, the Demerara,
Essequibo and Berbice, as well as many smaller ones. The three counties
in Guyana take their names from the three main rivers.
Over 85% of the country is covered by unexplored tropical jungle, which is home to a variety of wild animals, colourful birds and diverse plants. Most of Guyana's cattle graze on the vast grasslands known as the Rupununi Savannah in the southwest of the country. A prominent feature of the savannah is the large number of termite mounds which can be up to six metres high. Atlantic sea water often floods the narrow plains along the northern coast. Many of the original dykes, built by the Dutch in the 1600s, help to keep the sea water out. Water levels are partly receding, due to the silt deposited at the mouth of the Demerara River. Many of the dykes, called kokers, are now some distance from the sea. Green fields of waving sugar cane and rice dot the coastal landscape. About 85% of the Guyanese population live on this plain. The capital, and the country's only city, Georgetown, is located at the mouth of the Demerara River.
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