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History of Guyana

When the first Europeans arrived in the area around 1500, Guyana was inhabited by the Arawak & Carib tribes of American Indians. Although Guyana was first sighted by Christopher Columbus during his third voyage (in 1498), it was not settled by Europeans until the Dutch in 1616, who established three separate colonies; Essequibo (1616), Berbice (1627), & Demerara (1752). The British assumed control in the late eighteenth century & the Dutch formally ceded the area in 1814. In 1831 the three separate colonies became a single British colony known as British Guiana.


The "Old Residence", a relic of colonial times is famed on Guyana.

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Escaped slaves formed their own settlements known as Maroon communities, but with the abolition of slavery in 1834 many of the former slaves began to settle in urban areas. Indentured laborers from modern day Portugal (1834), Germany (first in 1835), Ireland (1836), Scotland (1837), Malta (1839), China & India (beginning in 1838) were imported to work on the sugar plantations.

In 1889 Venezuela claimed the land up to the Essequibo. Ten years later an international tribunal ruled the land belonged to British Guyana.

During the Second World War, the United States arranged for its airforce to use British airports in South America, including those in British Guiana.

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Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1966 & became a republic on 23 February 1970, remaining a member of the Commonwealth. The United States State Department, along with the British government, played a strong role in influencing who would politically control Guyana after independence through the drafting of the constitution.

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An Index with links to almost all our sites.

A History of Barbados

A History of Trinidad & Tobago

A History of the Spanish conquest of Peru

The Story of the Caribs - A History

A site on the El Nino Famines that killed 10s of millions of Indians, & Chinese & others in the 19th Century

The Highland Clearances & it's full terribleness

The Full Story of the Beja People, who it is felt inspired the Roman idea of the Blemmye people, who live in Sudan

A site on the Belgian Congo, & how the king of that land killed 10s of millions of Congolese

Why the French Revolution was good

The Basic facts about the Epic of Gilgamseh

The most evil regimes of the 19th Century

A site on 1640s Britain

Worst 18th Century regimes

What were the nicest regimes ever

The Best regimes ever in terms of achievers

Worst 17th Century regimes ever

A site stating what have been the world's largest empires ever

What would happen in a war between these sides

What were the most evil regimes ever

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Royalty free music

Romania Villas

Jamaica Villas

Smoky Mountains Cabin Rental

A list stating what were the worst 1990s regimes

What were the worst 16th Century regimes ever

What were the worst 15th Century regimes ever

What were the worst 2000s regimes

A site stating the 10 largest majority English speaking lands, as their main tongue in the world

Pro-democracy site

A list of some fun sites

A site stating what are the 10 largest cities in Celtic lands, & a list of lands which are considered Celtic

A site on space, & the records to do with this subject

A site on giant sloths, & a link to the subject of 10 feet tall terror birds, from 2 million years ago, that could catch & eat large mammals

A site on a time traveling revolutionary

Holocaust stats

The world's 10 most powerful countries in 2008

My Worst regimes of the 20th century essay

My worst regimes of the 20th century stats

A History of Jamaica

A site on rivers

Our History Lounge - Where you can peruse many fascinating historical articles.

A Biography of Bob Marley

Worst 70 regimes of the 20th Century

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The History Lounge Back Rooms, the storage room, and dusty further away library of the History Lounge