Guyana Map: 10 Regions, Rivers, Coast & Interior Explained

A map can tell you where Guyana is. A good map can also help explain why the country feels so different from one region to the next.

Most of the population lives along a narrow Atlantic coastal belt, while much of the country stretches inland through forest, rivers, mountains and savannah. That geography shapes travel, agriculture, settlement and even the way Guyanese people describe where they are from.

Where is Guyana on the map?

Guyana sits on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. Venezuela lies to the west, Brazil to the south and southwest, Suriname to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the north.

Its geography is South American, while its language, history and institutions also connect it closely to the Caribbean.

Guyana’s 10 administrative regions

1. Barima-Waini
2. Pomeroon-Supenaam
3. Essequibo Islands-West Demerara
4. Demerara-Mahaica
5. Mahaica-Berbice
6. East Berbice-Corentyne
7. Cuyuni-Mazaruni
8. Potaro-Siparuni
9. Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo
10. Upper Demerara-Berbice

Those regions are administrative boundaries. Everyday identity can be more specific: a village, town, river, coast, county name or family place can matter more to someone than the region number.

Four broad natural regions

Guyana’s physical geography is often described through four broad natural regions.

The Low Coastal Plain

This narrow strip along the Atlantic is where most Guyanese people live. Georgetown and many long-established villages sit here, along with major agricultural areas, canals and sea defenses.

The Hilly Sand and Clay Region

South of the coast, sandy and clay soils, scrub vegetation and bauxite-bearing areas help distinguish this landscape from the coastal plain.

The Forested Highland Region

Much of Guyana’s interior is covered by tropical forest, uplands and mountain systems crossed by major rivers. This is the wider landscape behind places such as Kaieteur and many interior communities.

The Interior Savannahs

In the southwest, the Rupununi savannah creates one of Guyana’s most dramatic changes in scenery. Ranching, Indigenous communities, wetlands and the Kanuku Mountains all belong to this wider natural region.

Rivers are part of the map too

The Essequibo, Demerara, Berbice and Corentyne are not decorative blue lines. Rivers have long functioned as transport routes, settlement corridors and economic lifelines.

That is why understanding Guyana often requires thinking in waterways as much as roads.

Where is Georgetown?

Georgetown is the capital, located in Region 4, Demerara-Mahaica, near the mouth of the Demerara River on the Atlantic coast.

From there, travel into Guyana’s interior can involve long road journeys, river transport or domestic flights depending on the destination.

Why the outline means so much abroad

For the diaspora, the map becomes more than geography. The country outline can be a quiet symbol of home—especially for people whose family story begins in a place that is difficult to explain to someone who only knows Georgetown.

That is why the shape of Guyana appears on jewelry, shirts, wall art, tattoos and gifts. It says, “This is the place.”

Explore our Guyana Map collection, then keep learning with the Guyana country guide.