Georgetown - City of Guyana

Georgetown, is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean. It also serves as a financial services centre.

The city of Georgetown began as a small town in the 18th century. Originally, the capital of the Demerara-Essequibo colony was located on Borselen Island in the Demerara River under the administration of the Dutch. When the colony was captured by the British in 1781, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Kingston chose the mouth of the Demerara River for the establishment of a town which was situated between Plantations Werk-en-rust and Vlissengen.

More recently another section of High Street was renamed the Cheddi B. Jagan Drive in honour of the late president. Part of D'Urban Street was renamed Joseph Pollydore Street after the popular trade unionist. New roads were created such as Mandela Avenue, Homestretch Avenue, and Aubrey Barker Road. Mandela Avenue was named after the indomitable freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa. Homestretch Avenue was so named because it was built on the former horse-racing ground at D'Urban Park in front of the pavilion which now houses the Ministry of Housing.

Georgetown is the seat of the central Government of Guyana. All Executive Departments are located in the city. Parliament Building, Guyana, Guyana's Legislative Building, is also found in Georgetown and so is the Court of Appeals, Guyana's highest judicial court.

The Official residence of the Head of State as well as the Head of Government are both located in Guyana's only city. Georgetown is the capital city as well as the economic powerhouse of Guyana.

Georgetown has expanded dramatically through the years and may be divided into three Geographical regions:

Georgetown - referring to Central Georgetown includes the Business district as well as the seat of the Federal Government.

Greater Georgetown - contains some of the most expensive and luxurious metropolitan neighbourhoods.Bel Air Park, Bel Air Gardens, Lamaha Gardens and Bel Air Springs are well known ultimately as places for the rich and powerful. Most residents here are high ranking executives or government officials. These close gated neighbourhoods of the city are mostly concentrated in the northeastern part towards Greater Georgetown and the Atlantic. Greater Georgetown contains some notable places such as:

The University of Guyana
The Cyril Potter College of Education
The Caribbean Community Secretariat
The Guyana International Conference Centre
Ocean View International Hotel
Guyana Sugar Corporation
Ogle Airport