Originally a Dutch colony in the 17th century, by 1815 Guyana had become a British possession. The abolition of slavery led to settlement of urban areas by former slaves and the importation of indentured servants from India to work the sugar plantations. The resulting ethnocultural divide has persisted and has led to turbulent politics. Guyana achieved independence from the UK in 1966, and since then it has been ruled mostly by socialist-oriented governments. In 1992, Cheddi Jagan was elected president in what is considered the country’s first free and fair election since independence. After his death five years later, his wife, Janet Jagan, became president but resigned in 1999 due to poor health. Her successor, Bharrat Jagdeo, was elected in 2001 and again in 2006. Early elections held in May 2015 resulted in the first change in governing party and the replacement of President Donald Ramotar by current President David Granger. After a December 2018 no-confidence vote against the Granger government, national elections were constitutionally required to take place within three months. After over a year of extra-constitutional rule by the Granger administration, elections were held, though voting irregularities led to a nationwide recount. The current Irfaan Ali administration was sworn in to office in August 2020. The discovery of oil in 2015 has been the primary economic and political focus, with many hoping the significant reserves will transform one of the poorest countries in the region. Guyana is the only English-speaking country in South America and shares cultural and historical bonds with the Anglophone Caribbean.
Economy
Small, hydrocarbon-driven South American export economy; major forest coverage being leveraged in carbon credit offsets to encourage preservation; strengthening financial sector; large bauxite and gold resources.
Population
The population is 791,739 (2023 est.) which consists of East Indian 39.8%, African descent 29.3%, mixed 19.9%, Amerindian 10.5%, other 0.5% (includes Portuguese, Chinese, White) (2012 est.)
Afro-Guyanese are generally descended from the enslaved people brought to Guyana from the coast of West Africa to work on sugar plantations during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Coming from a wide array of backgrounds and enduring conditions that severely constrained their ability to preserve their respective cultural traditions contributed to the adoption of Christianity and the values of British colonists.
The Dutch West India Company turned to the importation of African slaves, who rapidly became a key element in the colonial economy. By the 1660s, the slave population numbered about 2,500; the number of indigenous people was estimated at 50,000, most of whom had retreated into the vast hinterland. Although African slaves were considered an essential element of the colonial economy, their working conditions were brutal. The mortality rate was high, and the dismal conditions led to more than half a dozen slave rebellions.[2] Slaves produced coffee, sugar and cotton for the Dutch market.
The most famous slave uprising, the Berbice Slave Uprising, began in February 1763. On two plantations on the Canje River in Berbice, slaves rebelled, taking control of the region.[2] As plantation after plantation fell to the slaves, the European population fled; eventually only half of the whites who had lived in the colony remained. Led by Cuffy (now the national hero of Guyana), the African freedom fighters came to number about 3,000 and threatened European control over the Guianas. The freedom fighters were defeated with the assistance of troops from neighboring French and British colonies and from Europe.
Colonial life was changed radically by the demise of slavery. Although the international slave trade was abolished in the British Empire in 1807, slavery itself continued in the form of “apprentice-ship”. In what is known as the Demerara rebellion of 1823 10–13,000 slaves in Demerara-Essequibo rose up against their masters. Although the rebellion was easily crushed, the momentum for abolition remained, and by 1838 total emancipation had been effected.
The system of apprentice-ship was established to create a buffer period for plantation owners; to keep former slaves as labor but providing payment.
Even though there was still a demand for plantation labor, the labor conditions were no better post-emancipation, so former slaves were less inclined to work in the plantation system, favoring self-reliance or skilled work. Some ex-slaves moved to towns and villages, feeling that field labor was degrading and inconsistent with freedom, but others pooled their resources to purchase the abandoned estates of their former masters and created village communities. Establishing small settlements provided the new Afro-Guyanese communities an opportunity to grow and sell food, an extension of a practice under which slaves had been allowed to keep the money that came from the sale of any surplus produce. The emergence of an independent-minded Afro-Guyanese peasant class, however, threatened the planters’ political power, inasmuch as the planters no longer held a near-monopoly on the colony’s economic activity.
Emancipation also resulted in the introduction of new ethnic and cultural groups into British Guiana, such as Chinese and Portuguese indentured laborers, who upon completing their contracts, became competitors with the new Afro-Guyanese middle class. The largest group of indentured laborers came from India, and would later grow into a thriving and competitive class. Unlike future immigrant groups, former slaves were not granted land or passage to their home country, and this, in addition to other race-based treatment and favoritism, created tension among the ethnic groups.
By the early twentieth century, the majority of the urban population of the country was Afro-Guyanese. Many Afro-Guyanese people living in villages had migrated to the towns in search of work. Until the 1930s, Afro-Guyanese people, especially those of mixed descent, comprised the bulk of the non-white professional class. During the 1930s, as Indo-Guyanese began to enter the middle class in large numbers, they began to compete with Afro-Guyanese for professional positions.
Afro-Guyanese are largely descended from the Akans of Ghana West Africa. There is a lot of cultural evidence to support this. Kofi, a national Afro-Guyanese hero is an Akan from Ghana, so is Quamina Gladstone. A lot of Afro-Guyanese dishes eaten in Guyana originated in Ghana. Examples are: Foo-Foo (Twi:Fufu (Ghana)), Metemgee (Twi metem = plantains or bananas; gye = to delight (delighted bananas) ), Cou-Cou (Twi:nkuku) and Cookup Rice (known as Waakye in Ghana). Sorrel may also be influenced by this culture. (Zobo/Sobolo)
This high influence of Ghanaian culture on the Afro-Guyanese could be due to the Dutch historically speaking, establishing rich ties established with the Ashanti Empire. It is also important to note that the Nduyka (Aukan) who inhabit the Western side of neighboring Suriname also are related to the Akans. This could be due to the close border they share.
A popular element of Afro-Guyanese culture is the Kwe-Kwe. The Kwe-Kwe is a pre-wedding dance of West African origin that is done before the wedding and is unique to the Afro-Guyanese. It is a dance with heavy West African influence and uniting of the 2 families with friends as well.
Slavery had a devastating impact on family and social structure, as individual family members were bought and sold with little regard to kinship or relation. Marriage was not legally recognized for slaves, and even after emancipation, weddings and legal marriages were cost-prohibitive. Household compositions vary, and can be matriarchal or a nuclear family unit.
Although the greatest numbers of Afro-Guyanese are Christian, there are also followers of obeah, a folk religion of African origin, which incorporates beliefs and practices of all the immigrant groups.
Afro-Guyanese make up a significant portion of the public sector workforce. Afro-Guyanese face challenges to private sector involvement, such as access to financing. In politics, Afro-Guyanese make up a large portion of A Partnership for National Unity party voters.
In 2017, a United Nations expert group determined that Afro-Guyanese face discrimination in law enforcement, employment, and education.