Guyana: Physical Geography

Guyana lies on the northeastern coast of South America, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Suriname to the east, Brazil to the south and southwest, and Venezuela to the west. Covering about 215,000 square kilometers (83,000 square miles), the country divides into three main geographic zones: a narrow coastal plain, an interior white sand belt, and the highlands that make up most of the interior.

The coastal plain, only about 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 kilometers) wide, holds more than 90 percent of Guyana's population despite covering a small share of its land area. Much of this low-lying strip sits below sea level at high tide and has been reclaimed through centuries of dikes and drainage canals; the capital, Georgetown, depends on this system for protection from the Atlantic and the Demerara River. South of the coast lies a wide belt of sandy hills that supports dense hardwood forest and holds most of the country's bauxite, gold, and diamond deposits. The interior highlands beyond form the largest of the three zones, a mix of plateaus, savanna, and mountains that includes the Pakaraima range and Mount Roraima, Guyana's highest peak at 2,762 meters (9,062 feet), on the border with Venezuela.

Guyana is a water-rich country, drained by four major rivers, the Essequibo, Demerara, Berbice, and Courantyne, all flowing north into the Atlantic. The interior's many waterfalls, including the 226-meter (741-foot) Kaieteur Falls, limit river transport further inland. The climate is tropical and largely uniform in temperature year-round, with two wet seasons, and the country lies far enough south of the Caribbean hurricane belt that it has historically avoided direct hurricane strikes. Rainforest covers roughly three-quarters of Guyana's land area, giving it one of the highest forest-cover percentages in the world.