23rd February: Guyana Republic Day

On 23 February 1970, Guyana officially became a republic. 10 things you didn't know about Guyana:

1. Guyana is the only English-speaking country in South America and one of very few Caribbean nations to be situated in South America.
2. The name Guyana derives from Guiana, the old name for the region, which in turn comes from an Amerindian word meaning "land of many waters."
3. It is home to one of the largest waterfalls in the world, Kaieteur Falls. It's not the tallest in the world, although is is about six times the height of Niagara Falls, but it is the largest single drop waterfall by volume.
4. The longest river is the Essequibo at 1,010 kilometres (628 mi) long.
5. Guyana doesn't have a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Not yet, anyway. This is not through want of trying - it signed up to the UNESCO Treaty in 1977 - it was the first Caribbean state to do so - and has applied with respect to three different sites: Kaieteur National Park (where the waterfall is), Shell Beach and Historic Georgetown. The National Park was deemed too small and other sites were given priority by UNESCO.
6. Guyana has the tallest wooden church in the world - St George's Anglican Cathedral, situated in the capital, Georgetown. The only other wooden place of worship which is taller is a temple in Japan.
7. Guyana's darkest hour may well have been in 1978, as it was the location of Jonestown, the settlement created by Jim Jones for his People's temple Cult. It was here that over 900 people, including 300 children, died in a mass suicide.
8. The highest mountain is Mount Roraima at 2,810m or 9,219 feet, which along with the table-top mountains, is said to have been the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World.
9. Guyana is said to have the largest rain forests in the world - 70-80% of the country is covered in rain forests.
10. The national motto of Guyana is “One People, One Nation, One Destiny.” Victoria Amazonica is the national flower of Guyana, while its national bird is the hoatzin, locally known as Canje Pheasant.