Cities in Guyana: Georgetown and the 9 Official Towns

If you search for cities in Guyana, you will often find lists that use “city” and “town” interchangeably. Guyana’s official local-government structure is more specific: Georgetown is the capital city, and the country also has nine other urban townships.

Together, these ten urban centers stretch from Mabaruma in the northwest to Lethem near the Brazilian border, and from the Atlantic coast into Guyana’s interior. Each sits within one of the country’s ten administrative regions and reflects a different part of Guyana’s geography, history and everyday life.

How many cities and towns are in Guyana?

Guyana’s Bureau of Statistics identifies ten urban townships in the 2022 census: Mabaruma, Anna Regina, Georgetown, New Amsterdam, Rose Hall, Corriverton, Bartica, Mahdia, Lethem and Linden.

Georgetown is the national capital and is officially a city. The other nine are towns or townships. In everyday search language, however, people frequently use “cities in Guyana” when looking for all of the country’s main urban places.

For a wider geographic overview, see our Guyana map and 10 regions guide.

1. Georgetown — Region 4, Demerara-Mahaica

Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and the country’s largest urban center. It lies on the Atlantic coast near the mouth of the Demerara River and serves as Guyana’s main center for government, commerce, education and transportation.

The city is known for Stabroek Market, St. George’s Cathedral, the Umana Yana, Main Street, the 1763 Monument and a distinctive landscape of canals, wooden buildings and coastal streets.

Explore the capital in our full Georgetown Guyana guide, or browse the Umana Yana collection inspired by one of the city’s best-known landmarks.

2. Linden — Region 10, Upper Demerara-Berbice

Linden is the principal town of Region 10 and one of Guyana’s best-known interior urban centers. It developed strongly around bauxite mining and sits along the Demerara River.

Linden has its own cultural identity, neighborhoods and history, and it also holds an important place in the story of Mashramani. The first Mashramani celebration was organized in Linden in 1970 before the event grew into a national Republic Day observance.

Learn more in our guide to Mashramani in Guyana.

3. New Amsterdam — Region 6, East Berbice-Corentyne

New Amsterdam is one of Guyana’s oldest established towns and an important urban center in Berbice. It is located in Region 6, East Berbice-Corentyne, near the Berbice River.

The town’s history reaches back into Guyana’s Dutch and British colonial periods. Today it remains an important commercial and administrative center for communities in Berbice.

4. Rose Hall — Region 6, East Berbice-Corentyne

Rose Hall is another of the three official towns in Region 6. It is smaller than Georgetown or Linden but plays an important local role in the Corentyne area.

Its presence on Guyana’s official township list is a useful reminder that the country’s urban geography is not concentrated only around the capital. Berbice has several established municipal centers with their own communities and commercial life.

5. Corriverton — Region 6, East Berbice-Corentyne

Corriverton is located in eastern Guyana in Region 6, near the Corentyne River and the border with Suriname. Its location makes it one of Guyana’s most important eastern urban centers.

New Amsterdam, Rose Hall and Corriverton together make Region 6 the only administrative region with three towns on Guyana’s current urban township list.

For the wider history and geography behind these eastern towns, read our Berbice Guyana guide.

6. Anna Regina — Region 2, Pomeroon-Supenaam

Anna Regina is the main town in Region 2, Pomeroon-Supenaam, on the Essequibo Coast. It serves communities across the region and is part of the long-settled coastal belt where much of Guyana’s population lives.

The town is one of the older municipalities in the current system, having held township status before the group of newer towns added in the 2010s.

7. Bartica — Region 7, Cuyuni-Mazaruni

Bartica is the town of Region 7, Cuyuni-Mazaruni. Its river setting and position as a gateway into Guyana’s interior give it a very different character from the densely populated Atlantic coast.

Bartica officially gained township status in 2016. It is closely associated with river travel, interior commerce and access to communities and activities farther inland.

Read our full Bartica Guyana guide for its river setting, Region 7 geography, travel context and local identity.

8. Lethem — Region 9, Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo

Lethem is the main town in Region 9 and sits in the Rupununi near Guyana’s border with Brazil. Its geography gives it a noticeably different landscape from Georgetown and the coastal towns.

The wider Rupununi is known for savannah, ranching, Indigenous communities, wildlife and community-led tourism. Lethem serves as an important regional center for travel, commerce and cross-border movement.

For more about Guyana beyond the coast, explore our guide to eco-tourism in Guyana.

9. Mabaruma — Region 1, Barima-Waini

Mabaruma is the town of Region 1, Barima-Waini, in northwestern Guyana. It gained township status in 2016 and serves as an administrative center for a region with riverine, coastal and hinterland communities.

Its location makes Mabaruma one of the urban places farthest from the concentration of population around Georgetown and the central coast.

10. Mahdia — Region 8, Potaro-Siparuni

Mahdia is the town of Region 8, Potaro-Siparuni, in Guyana’s interior. It became a town after Bartica, Lethem and Mabaruma, completing the current group of ten urban townships identified by the Bureau of Statistics.

Region 8 also contains some of Guyana’s dramatic interior landscapes, including Kaieteur National Park. Learn more about the country’s most famous waterfall in our Kaieteur Falls guide.

Which regions do not have an official town?

On the current official township list, Region 3, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, and Region 5, Mahaica-Berbice, do not have a municipality classified among these ten urban townships. Both regions still contain many populated communities, commercial areas and important settlements.

This distinction is useful because a “town” in everyday speech is not always the same thing as a legally established municipality.

Is Georgetown the only city in Guyana?

In Guyana’s official municipal terminology, Georgetown is the city, while the other nine urban municipalities are towns. That is why official maps may label Georgetown as the capital city and the others as townships.

Search engines and travel websites often use broader language such as “cities in Guyana” because that is how many people search for the country’s major population centers. Understanding the official distinction keeps the geography accurate.

How Guyana’s towns connect to the 10 regions

Guyana’s administrative regions are much larger than the towns within them. A region can include villages, Indigenous communities, river settlements, agricultural areas, forest and savannah in addition to its principal urban center.

That is why learning the towns and learning the regions are complementary rather than interchangeable. Start with the Guyana map and regions, then use this city-and-town guide to understand the main urban places within that geography.

Why place names matter to the Guyanese diaspora

For Guyanese abroad, a place name can carry more meaning than a generic country label. Someone may identify first with Berbice, Linden, Bartica, Essequibo, Georgetown or a particular village before simply saying “Guyana.”

Those local connections are part of the reason Guyanese Swag is expanding beyond broad national symbols into more place-based cultural storytelling. A country is not only its capital; it is the collection of towns, villages, regions, rivers and communities people remember as home.

Keep exploring Guyana

For a complete overview of the country, continue with our Guyana country guide. You can also learn where Guyana is in South America, explore the Guyana flag, or browse Guyana map clothing and gifts.

For official geographic and municipal references, see the Guyana Bureau of Statistics Census and the Central Housing & Planning Authority town council listing.