Guyana

The Dominion of Guyana, shortened to Guyana, is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is the second-smallest country on the continent by population, behind Paraguay, and the only South American member of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as the only country where English is an official language.

The region known as the Guianas was divided between British and French colonies until the Seven Years' War and the Napoleonic Wars, during which Britain consolidated the region into a single colony following a series of treaty concessions. British Guyana achieved independence as a Dominion within the Commonwealth on May 1, 1961. The country's British history is reflected in its cultural diversity, its administration and its ties to the United Kingdom, whose monarch Guyana recognizes as Queen of Guyana.

Guyana is recognized as a developing economy, with a high standard of living in urban areas offset by rural and undeveloped regions where nearly 40% of the population maintains a subsistence-farming lifestyle.