Guyanese people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this
article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (December 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template
message)
Guyanese people
Flag of Guyana.svg
National Flag of Guyana
Total population
c. 1,250,000
Regions with significant populations
Guyana 771,000
United States 281 371
Canada 101 004[1]
United Kingdom 40,872
Netherlands 14,560
Suriname 11 530
Venezuela 7 401
Trinidad and Tobago 1,000
Brazil 1,000
Languages
English, Guyanese Creole, Guyanese Hindustani, Tamil, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish,
Dutch, Yoruba, Indigenous languages
Religion
Christianity (Roman Catholic, Protestants), Hinduism, Islam, Rastafarian, Bah�'�,
Buddhism, Afro-American religions, Traditional African religions, Chinese folk
religion (Taoism and Confucianism)
Guyanese people are people from Guyana, officially named the Co-operative Republic
of Guyana, which is located on the northern coast of South America and borders the
Atlantic Ocean. Geographically, Guyana is part of the South American mainland,
however it is much more similar to the nearby island nations of the Caribbean such
as Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada with
respect to culture. In fact, Guyana is considered a Caribbean country even though
it is not an island nation located in the Caribbean Sea, as are most Caribbean
nations.

Contents
1 Overview
2 Demographics
3 Diaspora
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Overview
Guyana is also a founding member of the Caribbean Community CARICOM. However,
Guyana does share some of the Latin American customs and traits that are
characteristic of its South American neighbors, and it is also a founding member of
the Union of South American Nations which formed in 2008. In addition to some Latin
American and a great deal of Caribbean influence, Guyana's culture also reflects
its European history as it was originally a Dutch, then British colony. Guyana
(known as British Guiana under British colonial rule) only gained its independence
from the United Kingdom in 1966 and subsequently became a republic in 1970. Because
of Guyana's long, 170-year history as a British colony, today it is a part of the
Anglophone Caribbean - a subregion of the Caribbean consisting of independent,
English-speaking nations that were once British colonies (also known as the
Commonwealth Caribbean). While Guyana is the only country in South America with
English as the official language, the majority of people in Guyana actually speak
Guyanese Creole which is a creole language that is largely based on English and
contains some minor influences from the Arawakan, Dutch and Caribbean languages.
[citation needed]

Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Guyana
Guyana is a diverse nation, 39.8% of the population is of East Indian origin (see
Indo-Guyanese), 30% Black African (see Afro-Guyanese), 19.9% multiracial (almost
all part African), 10.5% Amerindian and 0.5% other, mostly Chinese and whites (most
notably Dutch people, Portuguese and English). English (in the form of Guyanese
Creole) is the most common language amongst Guyanese people in Guyana and its
diaspora, while British English is taught in School, and used in Government and
business. The religious breakdown of Guyanese people is: Hindu 28.4%, Pentecostal
16.9%, Roman Catholic 8.1%, Muslim 7.2%, Anglican 6.9%, Seventh-day Adventist 5%,
other Christian denominations 20.5%, no religion 4.3%, Rastafarian 0.5%, Bah�'�
0.1%, other faiths 2.2%.[2]

Diaspora
Overseas Guyanese communities
born), United Kingdom (20,872
the Netherlands (328 Guyanese
Guyanese descent born in that
mainly exist in the United States (86,120 Guyanese
Guyanese born), Canada (14,560 Guyanese born), and
born), although the total populations (i.e. people of
country) are much higher.

The migration of Guyanese to other countries began in the late 1950s when some
Guyanese (mainly young men, and some women) took up offers from the British
Government to migrate to England to supplement the British labour force, like other
Caribbean countries. This was a short lived policy as the British government
quickly closed the doors on open immigration from its Caribbean Territories. The
migration of many Guyanese Portuguese to the U.K and Canada happened in the late
1960s and early 1970s due to political struggles and problems at the time.

The migration of Guyanese to other Western countries, mostly Canada and the United
States, continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s, much of it due to political and
economic problems. Discontent with the Forbes Burnham government, misguided
economic policies, and shortages of basic items let to large-scale emigration
during the 1980s. While many left due to political, economic, and social problems,
those who could afford it left looking for better opportunities and some for
educational purposes. The 1990s saw migration to other Caribbean countries.
Migration continued by the need to reconnect split families. The migration of
Guyanese to other lands continues today.

See also
Demographics of Guyana
Indo-Guyanese
Afro-Guyanese
Guyanese American
Guyanese British
Guyanese Canadians
References
http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/srvmsg/srvmsg404.html
"The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
External links
esa.un.org
Categories: Guyanese peopleSouth American people
Navigation menu
Not logged inTalkContributionsCreate accountLog inArticleTalkReadEditView
historySearch
Search Wikipedia
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons

Languages
???
Edit links
This page was last edited on 2 January 2018, at 18:24.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy. Wikipedia� is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policyAbout WikipediaDisclaimersContact WikipediaDevelopersCookie
statementMobile viewEnable previews
Wikimedia Foundation Powered by MediaWiki