According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the name "Guyana" comes from an Amerindian word meaning "land of waters". Anyway, historically speaking, The Guianas (Las Guayanas in spanish) refers to a region in South America, north of the Amazon River and east of the Orinoco River, which includes French Guiana (an overseas department of France), Guyana (former British Guiana), Suriname (former Dutch Guiana), the Guayana Region in Venezuela (former Spanish Guyana), and Brazilian State of Amapá (former Portuguese Guiana). Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, was originally colonized by the Netherlands, but became a British colony and remained so for over 200 years until it achieved independence in 1966, to become a republic in 1970.
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