The Land of Six Peoples
Guyana is often known as the Land of many Waters due to the original meaning of it's Amerindian name - Guiana.
However, it is also commonly known as the land of six peoples refering to it's mix of six different Ethnic Groups.
With the exception of the Indigenous Amerindians all the other Peoples originated from other lands and came to Guyana by means of the systems of Slavery or Indenture.
Today, the largest Ethnic groups are the East Indians (people who originate from the Indian Sub-Continent) and Africans (people who originate from west Africa).
The other Groups (Amerindians, Europeans, Chinese and Portuguese) make up 7% of the population.
The East Indian population also includes people whose Ancestors came to Guyana from Afghanistan and Nepal.
There are also a sizeable number of people of mixed origin (roughly 12%) who are mostly of either mixed African and European or mixed African and East Indian background.
