盖亚那(Guyana)

正式名称为盖亚那合作共和国（Co-operative Republic of Guyana）

旧称英属圭亚那（British Guiana，1966年以前）

南美洲东北部的共和国。面积215,083平方公里。人口约776,000（2001）。首都︰乔治城。盖亚那人口约有一半属东印度人，其次为黑人（盖亚那人）。语言︰英语（官方语）。宗教：基督教、印度教。货币︰盖亚那元。狭窄的大西洋海岸平原向内陆延伸16公里，包括许多由堤坝和排水渠防护的人造陆地。热带森林区始於内陆约64公里处，占全国面积的80%以上。森林区西部的帕卡赖马山脉成为埃塞奎博河的源头。盖亚那的经济为发展中的市场经济，兼有私营和公营成分，出口以糖、水稻及铝土矿为主。政府形式是多党制中央集权共和国，一院制。国家元首暨政府首脑是总统。

17世纪初，荷兰移民控制了这一地区，但在拿破仑战争期间英国人占领了荷兰殖民地，後又购买了德梅拉拉、伯比斯和埃塞奎博。1831年这三个殖民地合并成为英属圭亚那。1807年奴隶贸易被废止时，该地已有约10万奴隶，这些奴隶直到1838年才被全部解放。从1840年代起，东印度人和华人作为契约工来到种植园工作。至1917年，几乎已有24万东印度人迁移到英属圭亚那。1928年英属圭亚那成为英国直辖殖民地，1953年该殖民地获准内部自治。各种政党也开始出现，发展成以东印度人为主的人民进步党和以黑人为主的人民全国大会党。由人民全国大会党组成的联合政府於1966年领导该国独立，改国名为盖亚那。1970年盖亚那成为英联邦内的共和国。1980年颁布新宪法，该国与委内瑞拉的边界争端直到20世纪後期仍未解决。

English version：

Guyana

formerly (until 1966)British GuianaRepublic, northeastern South America. Area: 83,044 sq mi (215,083 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 773,000. Capital: Georgetown. The people are about half East Indian, with a large black (Afro-Guyanese) minority. Language: English (official). Religion: Christianity, Hinduism. Currency: Guyana dollar. It has a narrow Atlantic coastal plain that extends up to 10 mi (16 km) inland and includes reclaimed land protected by sea walls and canals. The tropical forest zone begins some 40 mi (64 km) inland and covers more than 80% of the country. The Pacaraima Mountains in the west provide headwaters for the Essequibo River. It has a developing market economy with both public and private ownership. Major exports are sugar, rice, bauxite and aluminum. It is a multiparty republic with one legislative house; its head of state and government is the president. It was colonized by the Dutch in the 17th century; during the Napoleonic Wars the British occupied the territory and afterward purchased the colonies of Demerara, Berbice, and Essequibo, united in 1831 as British Guiana. The slave trade was abolished in 1807, but emancipation of the 100,000 slaves in the colonies was not complete until 1838. From the 1840s, East Indian and Chinese indentured servants were brought to work the plantations; by 1917 almost 240,000 East Indians had migrated to British Guiana. It was made a crown colony in 1928 and granted home rule in 1953. Political parties began to emerge, developing on racial lines as the People's Progressive Party (largely East Indian) and the People's National Congress (largely black). The PNC formed a coalition government and led the country into independence as Guyana in 1966. In 1970 Guyana became a republic within the Commonwealth; in 1980 it adopted a new constitution. Venezuela has long claimed land west of the Essequibo River, and the UN has continued to arbitrate the issue.