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The Guyanas
The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British, Dutch, and French Guiana respectively. Broadly, it refers to the South American coast from the mouth of the Orinoco to the mouth of the Amazon. Politically it is divided into: * Spanish or Venezuelan Guiana, now the Delta Amacuro State and Guayana Region of Venezuela. * Guyana, formerly British Guiana, independent since 1966. * Suriname, formerly Dutch Guiana, independent since 1975. * French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France. * Brazilian or Portuguese Guiana, now the Amapá State of Brazil. The three Guianas proper have a combined population of 1,718,651; Guyana: 804,567, Suriname: 612,985, and French Guiana: 301,099. Most of the population is along the coast. Due to the jungles to the south, the Guianas are one of the most sparsely populated regi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demerara
Demerara (; , ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state from 1792 until 1815. It was merged with Essequibo (colony), Essequibo in 1812 by the British who took control. It formally became a British colony in 1815 until Demerara-Essequibo was merged with Berbice to form the colony of British Guiana in 1831. In 1838, it became a county of British Guiana until 1958. In 1966, British Guiana gained independence as Guyana (1966–1970), Guyana and in 1970 it became a republic as the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. It was located around the lower course of the Demerara River, and its main settlement was Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown. The name "Demerara" comes from a variant of the Arawak word or , which means "river of the :wikt:letterwood, letter wood" (wood of ''Brosimum guianense'' tree). Demerara sugar is so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the drainage divide, made up of a succession of elevated features, such as ridges and hills. A basin may consist of smaller basins that merge at river confluences, forming a hierarchical pattern. Other terms for a drainage basin are catchment area, catchment basin, drainage area, river basin, water basin, and impluvium. In North America, they are commonly called a watershed, though in other English-speaking places, " watershed" is used only in its original sense, that of the drainage divide line. A drainage basin's boundaries are determined by watershed delineation, a common task in environmental engineering and science. In a closed drainage basin, or endorheic basin, rather than flowing to the ocean, water converges toward the interio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Essequibo River
The Essequibo River (; originally called by Alonso de Ojeda; ) is the largest river in Guyana, and the largest river between the Orinoco and Amazon River, Amazon. Rising in the Acarai Mountains near the Brazil–Guyana border, the Essequibo flows to the north for through forest and savanna into the Atlantic Ocean. It has a total drainage basin of and an average discharge of . Territory near the river is argued over by Venezuela and Guyana. The river is administered by Guyana after being previously colonized by the British Guiana, British. Historically, Venezuela has claimed the Essequibo River as their most eastern border, though in practice it was under Dutch colonization of the Guianas, Dutch control. Geography The river runs through the Guianan moist forests ecoregion. The average annual rainfall in the catchment area is 2,174 mm. There are many rapids and waterfalls (e.g., Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River) along the route of the Essequibo, and its wide estuary is dotted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orinoco
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, fourth largest river in the world by Discharge (hydrology), discharge volume of water (39,000 m3/s at Orinoco Delta, delta) due to the high precipitation throughout its catchment area (ca 2,300 mm/a). The Orinoco River and its tributaries are the major transportation system for eastern and interior Venezuela and the Llanos of Colombia. The environment and wildlife in the Orinoco's basin are extremely diverse. Etymology The river's name is derived from the Warao language, Warao term for "a place to paddle", itself derived from the terms ''güiri'' (paddle) and ''noko'' (place) i.e. a navigable place. History The mouth of the Orinoco River at the Atlantic Ocean was documented by Christopher Columbus on 1 August 1498, during his Christo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America to the west, and South America to the south, it comprises numerous List of Caribbean islands, islands, cays, islets, reefs, and banks. It includes the Lucayan Archipelago, Greater Antilles, and Lesser Antilles of the West Indies; the Quintana Roo Municipalities of Quintana Roo#Municipalities, islands and Districts of Belize#List, Belizean List of islands of Belize, islands of the Yucatán Peninsula; and the Bay Islands Department#Islands, Bay Islands, Miskito Cays, Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, Corn Islands, and San Blas Islands of Central America. It also includes the coastal areas on the Mainland, continental mainland of the Americas bordering the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amazon Basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, as well as the territory of French Guiana. Most of the basin is covered by the Amazon rainforest, also known as Amazon rainforest, Amazonia. With a area of dense tropical forest, it is the largest rainforest in the world. Geography The Amazon River begins in the Andes, Andes Mountains at the west of the basin with its main tributary the Marañón River and Apurímac River, Apurimac River in Peru. The highest point in the Drainage divide, watershed of the Amazon is the second biggest peak of Yerupajá at . The Amazon River Basin occupies the entire central and eastern area of South America, lying to the east of the Andes mountain range and extending from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflicting theoretical understandings of social and kinship structures, and also reflecting the problematic application of this concept to extremely diverse human societies. Its concept is often contrasted by anthropologists with other social and kinship groups, being hierarchically larger than a lineage or clan, but smaller than a chiefdom, ethnicity, nation or state. These terms are similarly disputed. In some cases tribes have legal recognition and some degree of political autonomy from national or federal government, but this legalistic usage of the term may conflict with anthropological definitions. In the United States (US), Native American tribes are legally considered to have "domestic dependent nation" status within the territorial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arawak
The Arawak are a group of Indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. The term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to different Indigenous groups, from the Lokono of South America to the Taíno (Island Arawaks), who lived in the Greater Antilles and northern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. All these groups spoke related Arawakan languages. Name Early Spanish explorers and administrators used the terms ''Arawak'' and '' Caribs'' to distinguish the peoples of the Caribbean, with ''Carib'' reserved for Indigenous groups that they considered hostile and ''Arawak'' for groups that they considered friendly. In 1871, ethnologist Daniel Garrison Brinton proposed calling the Caribbean populace "Island Arawak" because of their cultural and linguistic similarities with the mainland Arawak. Subsequent scholars shortened this convention to "Arawak", creating confusion between the island and mainland groups. In the 20th century, scholars such as Irving Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cayenne (Dutch Colony)
Cayenne, currently the capital of French Guiana, was a hotly contested area between French and Dutch colonizers in the 17th century. In 1615, Theodore Claessen founded a Dutch colony at Cayenne, but it seems to have perished quickly. Another expedition to found a settlement at Cayenne left Flushing in 1626, under the captaincy of Claude Prevost. Whereas these early Dutch colonization attempts were organized from the County of Zeeland, in 1635 an expedition was organized from the city of Amsterdam in the County of Holland, much to the dismay of Zeelanders. Under the leadership of David Pietersz. de Vries, a group of about thirty colonists restored an abandoned French fort on Mecoria island on the Cayenne River and tried to cultivate the land. The colonization attempt seems to have ended with De Vries' departure. In the late 1650s, a more serious attempt at colonization followed. Jan Claessen Langendyck's request to colonize the area again was approved by the Dutch West India Com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cayenne
Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city's motto is "fert aurum industria", which means "work brings wealth". Cayenne is the largest Francophone city of the South American continent. In the 2021 census, there were 151,103 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Cayenne (as defined by INSEE), 63,468 of whom lived in the city (communes of France, commune) of Cayenne proper. History Ignored by Spanish explorers who found the region too hot and poor to be claimed, the region was not colonized until 1604, when the French founded a settlement. However, it was soon destroyed by the Portugal, Portuguese, determined to enforce the Treaty of Tordesillas. French colonists returned in 1643 and founded Cayenne, but were forced to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinnamary
Sinnamary (; ) is a town and commune on the coast of French Guiana, between Kourou and Iracoubo. Sinnamary was the second French settlement founded in French Guiana: the town was founded in 1664. Sinnamary lies on the Sinnamary River and is home to the Guianan Soyuz launch site. In 1792, the first prison for priests and political enemies was constructed in Sinnamary. The town contains an Indonesian community, as well as a Galibi Amerindian community. Both communities produce artwork and jewellery that can be purchased. The main hotel in Sinnamary is the Hôtel du Fleuve. History The first colonists arrived in the area in 1624, however the town of Sinnamary was officially established in 1664. Sinnamary was taken twice by the Dutch, and once by the British, until in 1763, it was awarded to France by the Treaty of Paris. In 1764, about 40 families of Acadians, still living in exile after the Grand Dérangement nine years earlier, settled in Sinnamary. In 1792 during the F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
