Morawhanna is a small
Atlantic
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 ...
coast village in
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 ...
, on the left side of the
Barima River
The Barima River is a tributary of the Orinoco River, entering from the Atlantic Ocean. It originates from the Imataka Mountains in Guyana, flowing for approximately before entering Venezuela about from its mouth.
Features
Early recorded exp ...
and in close proximity to
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 ...
.
The 2012 census had a population count of 203, mostly Amerindians. It has a secondary school, with nursery and secondary departments,
and a health post.
Major economic activities include fishing and crab-catching.
Morawhanna was declared a port-of-entry in the mid 1950s, and developed to facilitate the export of
manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...
from
Matthew's Ridge
Matthews Ridge is a small village within the Barima-Waini administrative region of Guyana. The village name comes from the name of a public official, Matthew Young, as well as the ridges in the area. The village is divided into three sections, He ...
and
Port Kaituma
Port Kaituma is a small village within the Barima-Waini administrative region of Guyana. It became known internationally as a gateway village to the Peoples Temple settlement in nearby Jonestown. It has long been a hub for mining in the area.
...
to
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
. This was done until the early 1970s, when the manganese company closed its operations. In the 1980s, it was converted into Morawhanna fish port complex, a now-defunct plan for local fish processing. The port serves as a rest-point for ferry services.
The area suffers regular flooding from the Barima River and lacks drainage to handle it.
The port sees major oil smuggling from Venezuela, which resulted in closure of a GuyOil fuel farm in the 1990s. The area also has high numbers of Venezuelan migrants.
Other villages near Morawhanna include Smith Creek
and Imbotero.
References
External links
Morawhanna: A village once famed for its rich African cultural heritage
{{Settlements in Guyana
Populated places in Barima-Waini