The Europeans
During the time when Europeans were searching the globe for gold and other valuables to increase their kingdom's wealth, Guyana was just one of many lands which were colonized. Planters (perhaps an elite term for "farmer"?) came to this land to grow sugar cane. The Dutch, Scottish, French and Englishmen either came and operated a sugar plantation, or financed such an enterprise. In those early days, Europeans in the colony were comprised of construction workers, government administrators, planters, labourers, military, and missionaries.
As the colony grew, the European population was always outnumbered by the slaves which had been brought in from Africa, and later the workers from India and Portugal. The European population has always been small in comparison to other groups. According to the 2002 Guyana census, the number of caucasion people in Guyana was 475. In the past, the caucasion/European percentage was equally small, as is shown below in data from the 1880 British Guiana Directory & Almanack:
Population of Demerary and Essequebo & Berbice at the period of their Union to form the Colony of British Guiana
- March 1831
| European Males | 2,419 |
| European Females | 1,010 |
| Free Coloured & Black | 7,521 |
| Slaves | 89,468 |
Population per census of 1851:
| Natives of British Guiana * | 94,451 |
| Natives of Barbados | 4,925 |
| Natives of West India Islands | 4,343 |
| African Immigrants | 7,168 |
| Africans introduced prior to abolition of slave trade | 7,083 |
| Madeirans | 7,928 |
| English, Scotch, Dutch, Americans, etc | 2,088 |
| Madras | 3,665 |
| Coolies from Calcutta | 4,017 |
| Not Stated | 17 |
Population per census of 1861:
| Natives of British Guiana * | 93,861 |
| Natives of West India Islands | 8,309 |
| Natives of Madeira, Azores, or Cape de Verde | 9,859 |
| Natives of Europe | 1,482 |
| Natives of North America | 147 |
| Madeirans | 7,928 |
| Immigrants from Africa | 9,299 |
| Immigrants from Madras | 3,654 |
| Immigrants from Calcutta | 18,416 |
| Immigrants from China | 2,629 |
| Born at sea | 28 |
| Merchant Seamen and Military | 881 |
* This represents the total number of residents of the colony who were born in British Guiana - this number includes all the groups in the chart. It seemed to be the way then to not include the aboriginal peoples in these charts, although the text states that they were included in this total.
