Originally a Dutch colony in the 17th   century, by 1815 Guyana had   become a British possession. The   abolition of slavery led to black   settlement of urban areas and the   importation of indentured servants   from India to work the sugar   plantations. This ethnocultural divide   has persisted and has led to   turbulent politics. Guyana achieved   independence from the UK in 1966,   but until the early 1990s it was ruled   mostly by socialist-oriented   governments.

  Guyana, in full, Co-operative   Republic of Guyana, republic on the   northern coast of South America. It   is bounded on the north by the   Atlantic Ocean, on the east by   Suriname, on the south by Brazil,   and on the west by Brazil and   Venezuela. Guyana has an area of   214,969 sq km (83,000 sq mi), and   its coastline is 459 km (285 mi) long.   Formerly a British colony known as   British Guiana, Guyana is a member   of the Commonwealth of Nations, an   association of nations that once   formed the British Empire.   Georgetown is its capital.

  Guyana’s economy was traditionally   dominated by sugar cultivation since   the early 18th century. When   settlers introduced sugar production,   it brought dramatic changes in the   population of Guyana. European   colonists imported large numbers of   African slaves to work the fields. By   the end of the 20th century, Indians   and Africans were the largest ethnic   groups in Guyana.

  In 1966, after more than 150 years of   colonial rule, British Guiana achieved   independence and adopted the name   Guyana, a Native American word   meaning “land of waters”. Since   independence, political parties have   formed along ethnic lines, and   moderately left-wing governments   have ruled Guyana. Afro-Guyanese   dominated the government until the   1990s, when a political party   associated with Guyanese of Indian   descent gained control of the   government.