This Monday Funday Photo of the week takes a look at Guyana, a country situated on the northern coast of South America between Suriname and Venezuela. Guyana’s national elections are being held today, November 28, 2011. According to online news source Reuters, Guyana is the region’s fourth largest miner of bauxite and also a producer of gold, sugar, and timber, and the country wants to attract more foreign investment to expand its mining sector and improve its infrastructure. Incumbent President Bharrat Jagdeo’s ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic, known as the PPP/C, is credited with helping Guyana find its way out of a period of economic chaos in the 1980s which included food shortages, soaring inflation, and crippling foreign debt. The PPP has ruled for two decades and remains the favored party to win the 2011 elections.

To learn more about Guyana check out the National Geographic Education
MapMaker Interactive where you can explore map layers showing population
density, language diversity, satellite imagery of the area, and more.
Or, print off one our our single page maps of Guyana to color and hang
in your classroom or bedroom!

Photo Credits: Parker Crooks (Your Shot)  Michael Morris (Your Shot) & Dan Doucette (Your Shot)
–Julia for My Wonderful World