NORWAY & GUYANA

The Oil-Rich Countries

GUYANA ■ Languages: English, indigenous languages,
Creole, Hindi, Urdu
■ Currency: Guyanese dollar
■ Religions: Christianity, Hinduism, Islam
Capital: Georgetown
■ Since independence from the UK in 1966,
Guyana has seen tense relations between its
citizens of African and Indians. Fierce political
rivalry between the two main ethnically-based
parties has led to recurring instability.
Corruption too remains a chronic problem.
■ Most of the country is covered in tropical
rainforest and despite having rich reserves of
bauxite, gold and timber, it has struggled to
overcome poverty and attract investment to
bolster its small economy. A century-old border
dispute with Venezuela has recently been
revived after the discovery of offshore oil
reserves.
GUYANA

■ 1300s: area is first inhabited semi-nomadic Amerindian tribes (Warraus)

■ 1498: Christopher Columbus sights Guyana
■ 1580: The Dutch set up trading posts
■ 1620: the Dutch West India Company imports African slaves to work on its sugar
plantations
■ 1780-1813: Guyana changes hands between the Dutch, French and British
Under British Rule

■ 1814: Britain occupies Guyana during the Napoleonic Wars

■ 1831: It is declared the Colony of British Guiana
■ 1834: Slavery abolished; many slaves leave plantations to set up their own freeholdings
and are replaced by indentured workers mainly from India.
■ 1879: Gold is discovered in Guyana and is followed by an economic boom.
■ 1889: Venezuela lays claims to two-thirds of Guyana, west of the Essequibo river but
international arbitration rules in favour of Guyana in 1899
British Intervention

■ 1953: Britain suspends Guyana's constitution, sends in troops and installs an interim
administration after democratic elections for parliament produces a result not to its liking
- a victory for the left-wing Indo-Guyanese Progressive People's Party (PPP).
■ 1957: Britain restores Guyanese constitution; PPP splits along racial lines, with Cheddi
Jagan leading a mostly Indian party and Forbes Burnham leading a party of African
descendants, the People's National Congress (PNC).
■ 1960: A new constitution provides full internal self-government but in 1964 a Labor
revolt leads to racial strife and violent riots
■ 1961: Guyana granted full autonomy, with Britain retaining control over internal and
defense matters; Jagan of the PPP becomes prime minister.
GUYANA - The only English-speaking country in South America
Georgetown

■ 1962: Venezuela revives its territorial claims; Cheddi Jagan introduces austerity program,
sparking off violent riots and a general strike; British troops sent in to restore order.
■ 1963: Racial violence between people of African origins and Indian supporters of Jagan.
Independence

■ 1966: Guyana gains independence from Britain with Forbed Burnham as prime minister
■ 1970 - Guyana becomes a republic within the British Commonwealth with Raymond
Arthur Chung as titular president.
■ 1978 - Jonestown massacre: Mass suicide by more than 900 members of the People's
Temple religious sect led by Jim Jones.
■ 1980 - Guyana gets a new constitution and Burnham becomes the country's first executive
president.
■ 2015 - Guyana's multiracial opposition coalition led by David Granger wins the general
election ending the 23-year rule of the Indo-Guyanese PPP party.
Economic decline and Elections

■ 1985 - Desmond Hoyte (PNC) becomes president following the death of Burnham;
economy begins to deteriorate.
■ 1992 - PPP wins first completely free parliamentary elections since independence;
Cheddi Jagan becomes president.
■ 1997 - Jagan dies and is replaced by his wife, Janet, after elections.
■ 1998 - Government declares state of emergency in Georgetown in response to violent
riots amid allegations of discrimination by PPP against Afro-Guyanese.
■ 1999 - Bharrat Jagdeo becomes president after Janet Jagan resigned for health
reasons.
Economic decline and Elections

■ 2000 - Long-running dispute with Suriname over the offshore border comes to a head
when Surinam gunboats evict an oil exploration rig from the area. Guyana had
approved the exploration.
■ 2002 July - TV presenter Mark Benschop charged with treason. Court says he
encouraged protest in which presidential complex was stormed by demonstrators, who
were complaining of discrimination against Afro-Guyanese.
■ 2003 April - US embassy employee is kidnapped and released after a ransom is paid.
The abduction is part of a wave of violent crime; the murder rate in 2002 quadrupled to
more than 160.
Economic decline and Elections

■ 2004 May - Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj steps down to allow an inquiry into
allegations that he is linked to a death squad accused of executing hundreds of suspected
criminals.
■ 2004 June - UN sets up tribunal to try to resolve long-running maritime border dispute
between Guyana and neighbouring Suriname.
■ 2004 December - Jury at trial of TV presenter Mark Benschop, charged with treason in 2002,
fails to deliver unanimous verdict, necessitating re-trial.
■ 2005 January - Government declares the capital a disaster zone as severe flooding follows
days of continuous rain. More than 30 people are killed. UN estimates loss to the economy to
be $500m.
■ 2005 April - Ronald Gajraj reappointed as interior minister after inquiry clears him of direct
involvement in killings of known and suspected criminals. He resigns in May.
Economic decline and Elections

■ 2006 April - Agriculture Minister Satyadeow Sawh is shot dead. The murder is part of a string
of gun crimes. The ruling party says the killing is intended to incite pre-election violence.
■ 2006 August - President Bharrat Jagdeo wins another five-year term in general elections.
■ 2007 June - Former Guyanese MP Abdul Kadir is arrested in Trinidad on suspicion of
involvement in a plot of blow up New York's JFK airport.
■ 2007 September - A UN tribunal rules in the Guyana-Suriname dispute over maritime
territory, giving both a share of a potentially oil-rich offshore basin.
■ 2008 July - President Bharrat Jagdeo accuses the EU of using its economic might to 'bully'
developing nations into accepting its terms in negotiations with 16 Caribbean countries over a
trade agreement.
■ 2008 October - President Jagdeo signs trade agreement with EU.
Economic decline and Elections

■ 2011 November - Donald Ramotar is elected as president. Ruling People's Progressive Party
loses majority at parliamentary elections, but remains largest party.
■ 2012 July - Three die as police clash with demonstrators protesting against electricity price
hikes.
■ 2014 November - President Ramotar suspends opposition-dominated parliament just before it
debates no-confidence motion in his government. Opposition accuses him of undermining
democracy.
■ 2015 May - Ex-general David Granger of the Afro-Guyanese Partnership for National Unity
and Alliance for Change wins presidential election by slim margin, ending 23 years of rule by
Indian-dominated People's Progressive Party.
– ExxonMobil announces "significant" oil discovery off Guyana in waters claimed by
Venezuela, which repeats its claim. Guyana seeks UN mediation.
 Guyana: a presidential representative
democratic republic
■ Guyana is divided into administrative regions, with an executive President and
parliamentary legislature. The 1980 constitution, amended in 2001, provides for an
executive presidency and a unicameral legislature, the National Assembly, with 65
members directly elected by proportional representation: 40 at a national level and 25
at a regional level. The normal life of parliament is five years.
■ The leader of the majority party in the Assembly is President for the duration of the
Assembly. The President appoints the Prime Minister and cabinet (which may include those
from outside the Assembly), which is responsible to parliament.
Guyana: a presidential representative
democratic republic
Guyana

Executive Legislative Judiciary

President President Court of

Appeal

National
Cabinet Assembly of High Court
Guyana

Audit Office of
Guyana
Current office holders

■ President: Brigadier David Granger

■ Prime Minister: Moses Nagamootoo
Guyanese culture
NORWAY
■ Currency: Norwegian krone
■ Language: Norwegian

Kingdom of Norway
■ Europe's northernmost country, the Kingdom of Norway is famed
for its mountains and spectacular fjord coastline, as well as its
Capital: Oslo history as a seafaring power.
■ It also enjoys one of the world's highest standards of living, in
large part due to the discovery in the late 1960s of offshore oil
and gas.
■ It is the world's number seven oil exporter and has resisted the
temptation to splurge its windfall, choosing instead to deposit the
surplus wealth into its oil fund - now the world's largest sovereign
wealth fund.
■ What to do with the money is a hot political issue: whether to use
more of it to improve infrastructure or keep it for a rainy day
and future generations.
■ Norway plays an active international role. It has mediated
between Israel and the Palestinians as well as in the Sri Lankan
conflict, and has participated in military action in Afghanistan
and Libya. Ex-premier Jens Stoltenberg is Nato's secretary
general.
■ It defies a global ban on commercial whaling, along with Japan
and Iceland.
NORWAY
Norway as a constitutional hereditary
monarchy
■ Government: Prime Minister + Statsråd (Council of State), is nominally chosen by the
monarch with the approval of the Storting (Stortinget), the country’s legislature
■ Constitution: 1814, influenced by British political traditions, Constitution of the United
States, French Revolutionary Ideas
Current Leaders

■ King: Harald V
■ Prime Minister: Erna Solberg
Norway’s constitution

■ First draft in 1814

■ Influences: British political traditions, Constitution of the United States, French
Revolutionary Ideas
Political Parties of Norway