The Canje River (sometimes referred to as Canje Creek), located in northeastern Guyana, is the main tributary of the

Berbice River The Berbice River, located in eastern Guyana, is one of the country's major rivers. It rises in the highlands of the Rupununi region and flows northward for through dense forests to the coastal plain. The river's tidal limit is between from th ...

. It runs roughly parallel to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

coast in

East Berbice-Corentyne East Berbice-Corentyne (Region 6) is one of ten regions in Guyana covering the whole of the east of the country. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the Nickerie District and Sipaliwini District of Suriname to the east, Brazil to the sou ...

, region 6. The settlement of

Baracara Baracara was founded as a maroon community in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region of Guyana, located on the Canje River. The community has also been called New Ground Village or Wel te Vreeden. Baracara is 20 miles west of Corriverton and jus ...

is on the Canje. It was settled by escaped slaves in the 1800s, and the river is still an important mode of transportation.

History

The

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

established an outpost, Concordia Post, on the river. In 1763 a

slave revolt A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freed ...

began on two plantations on the Canje River.

Economics

The Canje River supplies water to the

Guyana Sugar Corporation The Guyana Sugar Corporation, or GuySuCo, is a Guyanese sugar company owned by the government. It is the country's largest cultivator and producer of sugar, a historically important commodity in the country. They produce Demerara Sugar for export ...

's Skeldon Estate (c. 12,000 acres (49 km²)); Albion Estate (20,000 acres (80 km²)); and Rose Hall Estate (12,000 to 14,000 acres (49 to 51 km²)). The Manarabisi Rice Cultivation (17,000 acres (69 km²)) and Black Bush Polder (17,000 acres (69 km²)) also depend on this river. Pumps have been placed along the Canje River that lead to the cultivation area. There are two pumps at Skeldon. These push the water to the long Sandaka Canal then into the sugarcane cultivation area. At the long Manarabisi Canal there are two pumps and three pumps at the 7 mile (10 km) long Black Bush Polder. When all these pumps are in operation during the irrigation season, the level of water in the Canje River drops and a sufficient volume of water cannot be supplied. At this point, the gate on the Berbice River end of the

Torani Canal The Torani Canal in northeastern Guyana serves to move water from the Berbice River into the Canje River. It was to serve as irrigation for the sugar industry, and subsequently the rice industry. The canal is 14 miles long. The Berbice River inle ...

is opened to allow for flow into the Canje Creek. In addition to agriculture, the land of the Canje basin has been of some interest by international firms for production of biofuel.

Fauna

Guyana's national bird, the

hoatzin The hoatzin ( ) or hoactzin ( ), (''Opisthocomus hoazin''), is the only species in the order Opisthocomiformes. It is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South ...

, also known as the Canje pheasant{{Cite web, last=INEWS, date=2019-11-11, title=Canje River to be promoted as a tourist destination, url=https://www.inewsguyana.com/canje-river-to-be-promoted-as-a-tourist-destination/, access-date=2021-01-06, website=INews Guyana, language=en-US is named for its presence in the river.

References

Rivers of Guyana