The Guianas

The Guianas are the coastal region of northeastern South America comprising Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, distinguished from the rest of the continent by their English, Dutch and French colonial heritage rather than Spanish or Portuguese. Covered largely by dense rainforest and fronted by a low coastal plain, the region is ethnically and culturally distinct from its Latin American neighbors, shaped by the descendants of enslaved Africans, indentured South Asians and indigenous peoples.