Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a sovereign state on the Caribbean coast of South America. Although Guyana is part of the Anglophone Caribbean, it is one of the few Caribbean countries that are part of South America. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which Guyana is a member, has its secretariat’s headquarters in Guyana’s capital, Georgetown. Historically, the region known as “Guiana” or “Guyana” comprised the large shield landmass north of the Amazon River and east of the Orinoco River known as the “Land of many waters”. Historical Guyana consists of three Dutch colonies: Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice. Modern Guyana is bordered by Suriname to the east, by Brazil to the south and southwest, by Venezuela to the west, and by the Atlantic Ocean to the north. At 215,000 square kilometres (83,000 sq mi), Guyana is the third-smallest independent state on the mainland of South America after Uruguay and Suriname.
