New Amsterdam located in the east berbice-corentyne region is one of the largest towns in guyana.It is located four miles upriver from the atlantic ocean mouth of the berbice river on its eastern bank immediately south of the canje river New Amsterdam's population is about 33,000 new amsterdam has its origins in a village which grew up along side Fort Nassau in 1730's and 1740's. The first Nieuw amsterdam as it was called then, was situated about 56 miles up the berbice river on the right bank before the 1763 uprising it comprised of a court of policy,an Inn,two blacksmiths, a bakery ,a luthern church and a number of houses,among other buildings built in 1740 by the dutch new amsterdam was first named Fort Sint Andries. It was made seat of the dutch colonial goverment in 1790 in 1803 it was taken over by the british. In 1831, New amsterdam lost its status as a capital when two colonies of berbice and essequibo/demerara were combined into one to become British Guiana. The present town is fairly small consisting of three main roads with about a dozen cross streets.
Lethem is a town in located in the upper Takutu upper Essequibo region of this south american country. It is named after Sir Gordan James Lethem, who was the governor of british guiana from 1946 to april 12,1947. Lethem lies on the takutu river,which borders with brazil,opposite the brazilian town of bonfim lethem is the capital of region nine and is a hub linking many surrounding villages to georgetown. The takutu river bridge was recently completed and now links the two countries however the river is quite shallow and there is unofficial cross border transit and commerce.The population of guyana is varied and includes native amerindian people from nine original tribes in the savannahs there is a mixture of caribbean heritage as well as african. very few caucasians live in guyana and most are visiting for scientific research in the savannahs, rainforest or on christian missionary campaigns.the language is english some time you hear a dialects of the amerindian tribes.Lethem is part of the Rupununi savannah where there are many vaqueirose spoken for the portuguese language or cowboys and ranches. Local flora/fauna includes cashew trees and mango trees, coconut trees are also common.There is also a community called Saint Ignatices.There are several retail establishments throughout lethem and US currency is typically accepted along with the guyanese dollar. The area's other economic activities are plant and mileral extraction, and tourism there is also a rodeo event every easter. Lethem has a airport that connects you to the capital georgetown
Parika is a port township located in the essequibo-islands west demerara region. It is popular for its ferry service also has sinday markets this port township has seen considerable developments and investments by the private sector especially in the area of financial services. Parika has more banks than anywhere in the region it is also a major hub for land transport since it is a route stop for local taxis.
Bartica is a town on the left bank of the essequibo river in region seven at the confluence of the Mazaruni and Cuyuni rivers considered the gateway to the interior the town hasa population of about 15,000 and its athe launching point for people who work in the interior mining gold and diamonds.
Bartica was developed from an Anglican missionary settlement established in 1842 the name Bartica comes from the amerindian word maening Red Earth abundant in the area bartica can be reached by speed boat from Parika north of bartica lies the dutch ruins Fort Kyk-over-Al the former goverment seat for the county of essequibo. Bartica is also very close to Mashall Falls.
Matthew's Ridge is a small town within the Barima-Wani area it was once the location of a large Manganese mining operation but has since closed down leaving the town in economic decline with little opportunies aside from small scale gold mining nearby mining camps include eyelash, arakaka and five star.The basic infrastructure is very poor there are no telephones or electricity is provided some residents have there own generators. The local primary school can accommodate students up to the age of 14, with the more gifted children sent to the secondary schools of Mabaruma or Moruca if appordable. Although an airstrip exists at matthew's ridge almost all goods are brought into the area via Port Kaituma this can be troublesome especially in the wet season, as unpaved road can become impassable in some places.
Madhia is a small community in the potaro-siparuni region the altitude is about 1360 feet commerce is centres around gold and diamond mining operations. As such it responds to and is affedted by the economic booms and busts. the population of madhia is made up of three groups the Patamonas are the indigenous amerindian tribe the coast landers are residents from else where in guyana who have moved to the madhia. The islanders are immigrants and their also descendants from certain caribbean islands,particulary, saint lucia, dominica. Within recent times there has been an influx of a group that is referred to as foreiginers by the other residents of the area.
Madhia is the regional administrative center the communtiy has a police station,schools that provide nursery and primary education, madhia has commerical sector which includes dry goods shops,boutiques a fuel station, two hotels and a brothel. The area is serviced by several trucks from the coast. These trucks travel to madhia several times a week and sell vegetables,groceries and other supplies. there is a well in the area which is not functional residents conequently collect rain water for domestic use.
Vreed en Hoop is a town at the mouth of the Demerara river on its left bank in the west demerara region vreed en hoop encompasses a few smaller communties among them new road,plantain walk,and coglan bush. The name of the town comes from the Dutch Vrede en hoop translating as Freedom and Hope in english.
Tumatumari is a community in the potaro-siparuni region of guyana,located some 15km upstream of the confluence of the potaro and essequibo rivers.It was initially an amerindian settlement but it is now a mixture of different race groups similar to that of mahdia.The amerindians found here are from arawak tribe the area was believed to be rich in gold and diamonds and mining was the main economic activity for several years the fertile agricultural land in the area resulted in the establishment of guyana national service centre in the area in 1981.The centre concentrated on training young people to develop agricultural and technical skills.Several agro-based industries were established of tumatumari during the tenture of the gns. These industries included a pencil factory,a match factory,and a tooth-pick factory power for the industries was provided by the tumatumari hydro-electric power station which was established in 1953.
Historic Cummingsburg during 1759, jaques salignac applied for a grant of 500 acres of land for cotton and coffee cultivation he was granted permission by the court of policy.Salignac named this tract of land La bourgade in 1807 Thomas cumming, a scotsman,became the owner of the estate and renamed plantation la bourgade cummingburg, after his family,it was a town two miles in circumference and most regularly arranged.A special feature of cummingsburg was the provision of fresh water reservoirs these were filled with small fish and were later planted with victoria regia and lotus lillies by luke m. hill.The reservoir in main street was filled up and converted into a walkway in 1897 it was named in houour of Queen victoria.In later years other reservoirs were converted into similar walkways in 1864 the western part of cummingsburg was destroyed by fire the creation of new streets and redistribution of house lots were several of the plans undertaken to reorganize the destroyed area.An examination of nomenclature of this ward of the city reflect rich examples of guyana's history.Some streets such as waterloo named after admiral wellington's great battle and victory at waterloo against the french forces in 1815 also carmichael street named in honour of general hugh lyle carmichael who served as governor from 1812-1813. thomas street derived its name from the location as the main road to plantation thomas lamaha street was so named because of its northerly direction with main drainage trench of the district.
