Hogg Island, (sometimes referred to as Hog Island) is the largest of the hundreds of islands in the

Essequibo River The Essequibo River ( Spanish: ''Río Esequibo'' originally called by Alonso de Ojeda ''Río Dulce'') is the largest river in Guyana, and the largest river between the Orinoco and Amazon. Rising in the Acarai Mountains near the Brazil–Guyana b ...

in Guyana, it is located just 5 km from the river's mouth in its

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

into 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's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. With a total area of this island is larger than many Caribbean islands. Its 250 residents are engaged mainly in the farming of rice and

ground provisions Ground provisions is the term used in West Indian nations to describe a number of traditional root vegetable staples such as yams, sweet potatoes, dasheen root (taro), eddos and cassava. They are often cooked and served as a side dish in local cui ...

. The population has decreased a lot because of migration to other parts of Guyana, However, there is still a primary school and a church on Hogg Island.

History

The island used to be controlled by the Dutch when it was known as ''Varken Eiland'' or Hog Island, so named due to it being inhabited by a large number of wild hogs. Then in 1814 with the cessation of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

the British gained control of the Dutch colonies: Demerara, Berbice, and Essequibo, leaving the Dutch with Suriname until 1975. The British had decided to keep the name of the island as the Dutch did "Hogg Island".

Windmill

A windmill is located on the former plantation Lyksburg. The windmill is the only remaining mill in Guyana, and was constructed in 1768. The

National Trust of Guyana The National Trust of Guyana is a 1972 Guyanese conservation organisation to protect and conserve monuments of historic and national importance. Their main function is to preserve objects of national interest as well as managing their access by th ...

restored the mill in 2010, and it has been declared a national monument.

References

River islands of Guyana Essequibo Islands-West Demerara {{island-stub