Guyana

Guyana’s current constitution was promulgated on October 6, 1980. The country’s legislative branch consists of a unicameral National Assembly, with 65 elected members (elected by universal adult suffrage for a term of five years) and three nonelected members plus the speaker. Forty members of the Assembly are elected from national party lists under a system of proportional representation; the remaining 25 members are elected by the administrative regions of the country. Executive power is vested in the president, who is the nominee of the party whose slate has received the most votes. The president appoints the cabinet, which is responsible to the National Assembly.

Local government is administered principally through the Regional Democratic Councils, each led by a chairman; they are elected for terms of up to five years and four months in each of the country’s 10 regions. Local communities are administered by village or city councils.

The composition of Guyana Society is a reflection of the country's colonial past. The colony was created by Dutch and British planters who grew sugarcane using the labor of slaves and indentured workers. Ignoring the country's vast interior, the planters constructed dikes and dams that transformed the coast into an arable plain. With the exception of the indigenous Amerindians and a few Europeans, the entire population consisted of imported plantation workers or their descendants.

Guyanese culture developed with the adaptation of the forced and voluntary immigrants to the customs of the dominant British. Brought to Guyana as slaves, Africans of diverse backgrounds had been thrown together under conditions that severely constrained their ability to preserve their respective cultural traditions. In adopting Christianity and the values of British colonists, the descendants of the African slaves laid the foundations of today's Afro-Guyanese culture. Arriving later and under somewhat more favorable circumstances, East Indian immigrants were subjected to fewer pressures to assimilate than the Africans had been. As a result, more of their traditional culture was preserved.

Guyana’s culture reflects Amerindian, Nepalese, Indian, Chinese, and African influences, as well as British, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish facets. Despite being in South America, Guyana is considered a Caribbean nation. The culture, particularly in the coastal areas, is quite similar to that of the West Indies.

The visual arts scene is thriving, and local artists have produced notable sculptures and paintings visible throughout Georgetown. Guyana’s traditional music is a mix of European, Latin, African, and native influences. Caribbean reggae, soca, chutney, as well as American pop make up the music scene.

Football and cricket are the main outdoor sports enjoyed by the locals, while dominoes is popular as an indoor game. Minor sports like table tennis, lawn tennis, netball, squash, boxing, and rounders are widely played.

The culture in Guyana is unlike anything you’ve experienced before. The best way that we can put it into words is that it’s a little bit South America and a lot Caribbean. This mix makes for some interesting characters, a people who love people, having fun and genuinely try to make the best out of the everyday grind

World's largest lily

Amateur botanists will want to head out to the calmer waters of Guyana’s lakes, where there’s a strong chance they’ll encounter the world’s largest water lily, the Victoria amazonica.

Growing up to six feet in diameter, the leaves of this water lily are able to support the weight of a baby.

But while their size is extraordinary, there’s another reason this lily pad is worth tracking down: as a result of pollination, its flowers change from white to red overnight.

You can see the beginnings of this process at dusk, as the flowers begin to unfurl. One of the best places is near Rewa Eco-Lodge, where rare birds flit above the lily-strewn waters and baby caiman crawl out of the waters onto the lily pads to await their prey.