Happy TravellerWelcome to Georgetown, the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. Known as the Garden City of the Caribbean, Georgetown is a vibrant and bustling city that serves as the retail, administrative, and financial services center of the country. With a population of 118,363, Georgetown is home to all executive departments of Guyana’s government, including Parliament Building, Guyana’s Legislative Building, and the Court of Appeals, Guyana’s highest judicial court. The State House, the official residence of the head of state, as well as the offices and residence of the head of government, are both located in the city. The CARICOM headquarters is also based in Georgetown.
History:
Georgetown began as a small town in the 18th century. Originally, the capital of the Demerara-Essequibo colony was located on Borsselen Island in the Demerara River under the administration of the Dutch. When the colony was captured by the British in 1781, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Kingston chose the mouth of the Demerara River for the establishment of a town which was situated between Plantations Werk-en-rust and Vlissengen. It was the French who made it a capital city when they colonized it in 1782. The French called the capital Longchamps. When the town was restored to the Dutch in 1784, it was renamed Stabroek after Nicolaas Geelvinck, Lord of Stabroek, and president of the Dutch West India Company. Eventually, the town expanded and covered the estates of Vlissengen, La Bourgade, and Eve Leary to the North, and Werk-en-rust and La Repentir to the South. It was renamed Georgetown on 29 April 1812 in honor of King George III.
Geography:
Georgetown is located on Guyana’s Atlantic coast on the east bank of Demerara River estuary. The terrain in this part of the country where the city is located is flat coastal plains. The city is surrounded by a blanket of cane fields along with marshy swamps and savannah lands on its east and south. The elevation of the land is one meter below the high tide level. This low elevation is protected by a retaining wall known as the seawall to keep the ocean out and an innovative network of canals with kokers to drain the city of excess water.
Climate:
Georgetown has a year-round hot trade-wind tropical rainforest climate (Af). Relative humidity fluctuates throughout the year with the highest occurring in May, June, August, and December–January; these months are usually the rainiest part of the year. Between the months of September to November relative humidity is lower ushering in the drier season. Georgetown does not truly have a dry season – monthly precipitation in all 12 months is above 60 mm (2.4 in). Because of its location, Georgetown’s temperatures are moderated by the North-East trade winds blowing in from the North Atlantic and so it rarely sees temperatures above 31 degrees Celsius.
Transportation:
Georgetown is served by the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (formerly Timehri Airport), which acts as the major air transportation hub for the city, located on the right bank of the Demerara River, 41 kilometers south of Georgetown. Closer to the city is Ogle Airport, with a terminal facility geared to handle regional, international, and inter-Caricom flights, connecting CARICOM states with the CARICOM Secretariat. Helicopters also use this airport for the support of offshore oil and gas exploration activities. The four-lane East Coast Highway was completed in 2005. Georgetown is served by private buses, and taxi service is available almost everywhere along the coast, including in large numbers in Georgetown. Georgetown is also home to a seaport. The Demerara River is navigable by oceangoing vessels up to roughly 100 km upriver.
Points of Interest:
Georgetown is laid out in a north–south, east–west grid, interlaced with canals protected by kokers (sluices), built by the Dutch and later the British that provide drainage to a city that lies 0.91 m (3 ft) below high-tide level. A long seawall helps prevent flooding. The city has numerous boulevards and contains many wooden colonial buildings and markets. Most of the main buildings are centered around the western region of the town. Around the western-central area is Independence Square and Promenade Gardens, the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology, the National Library (built by Andrew Carnegie), the Bank of Guyana, Company Path Garden, the National Museum of Guyana, and State House (built 1852) where the president resides, St. Georges Anglican Cathedral, and the Red House. The Georgetown Cen