Guyana: Geography and Environment

Guyana lies on the northeastern coast of South America, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, and is one of the few mainland South American countries where English, rather than Spanish or Portuguese, is the official language. A narrow coastal plain, much of it below sea level and protected by a system of sea walls, holds most of the population, while dense rainforest covers roughly four fifths of the country's interior.

Inland, the landscape rises into the Pakaraima Mountains in the west, near the tripoint with Venezuela and Brazil, and opens into the Rupununi savanna in the south. The Essequibo River, the country's longest, drains much of the interior toward the Atlantic. Climate is tropical throughout, with a wet season roughly from May to August and a second, shorter one later in the year.

Environmental priorities include conserving one of the most intact tropical forests in the world, largely undisturbed to date, while managing new pressures from recently discovered offshore oil reserves and associated development. Coastal flood protection remains an ongoing concern given how much of the populated coastline sits below sea level.