History of Guyana

Guyana derives its name from an Amerindian word meaning "land of many waters." The area of the Guianas, bounded by the rivers of the Orinoco in the north and west, the Rio Negro in the west, the Amazon in the South, and of course the Atlantic Ocean in the East, is believed to have been settled before 900 AD by Warrau Indians, and later by the Arawak and Carib tribes. However, there is little archaeological evidence from these times of substantial settlements.

In 1595, prompted by the great riches brought back from South America by the Spanish, Sir Walter Raleigh embarked from London on an expedition in search of the fabled city of El Dorado. Raleigh's expedition penetrated hundreds of miles up the Orinoco River into the Guiana Highlands of present-day Venezuela, where he found some mineral specimens that contained gold. Upon his return, Raleigh published The Discoveries of the Large Rich and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana, with a relation of the Great and Golden City of Manoa (which the Spaniards call El Dorado, a book that if not exactly truthful was certainly quite popular. The region quickly attracted the interest of the French, the English, and the Dutch, all of whom soon laid claim to the entire region. It was settled in separate areas by the three nations, and what is now Guyana occupies the area of the former Dutch colonies.

From 1781 onwards, British influence became increasingly evident, but it was not until 1814 that the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice were finally ceded to Britain, while the Courts of Policy and Combined Courts, the legislative and executive bodies created by the Dutch, remained in operation under British rule for another century. In 1831 the three colonies merged to become British Guiana.

The territory attained its independence on May 26, 1966 and became a Republican State on February 23, 1970.