Mabaruma is the administrative centre for Region One (

Barima-Waini Barima-Waini (Region 1) is a region of Guyana. Venezuela claims the territory as part of Guayana Esequiba. The region is located in the northwest of the country and has a population of 26,941. It covers an area of . It borders the Atlantic Ocean ...

) of

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. It is located close to the Aruka River (the

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n border) on a narrow plateau above the surrounding rainforest at an elevation of 13 metres.

History

Mabaruma was once a large estate owned by the Broomes family. Cocoa was one of the products manufactured before the Government of Guyana bought part of the land to build Governmental Institutions. Mainly Amerindians live in this area. Some of the tribes include

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater ...

s, Caribs and Warao. Mabaruma also has a large Afro-Guyanese population with small East Indian, Chinese and Portuguese communities. It replaced

Morawhanna Morawhanna is a small Atlantic coast village in Guyana, on the left side of the Barima River and in close proximity to Venezuela. The 2012 census had a population count of 203, mostly Amerindians. It has a secondary school, with nursery and second ...

as the regional capital after the former was deemed at risk from flooding. Mabaruma became a town in 2016 with the surrounding villages of Hosororo and Kumaka joining.

Overview

There is a government guest house in the town as well as the Mabaruma Post Office, Mabaruma Hospital, and a police station where court cases are tried. Because of its size however, only petty crimes are tried. Mabaruma contains the region's first

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

North West Secondary School North West Secondary School is a secondary school in Mabaruma, capital town of the Barima-Waini region in northern Guyana. The school was established in 1965, being the only secondary school in the region until the establishment of Santa Rosa sch ...

, established in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

. Most local people either do farming or fishing work for a living.

Climate

Mabaruma has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.

References

{{Settlements in Guyana, state=expanded Populated places in Barima-Waini