When is Guyana Republic Day?
Republic Day is a national holiday in the Co-Operative Republic of Guyana on February 23rd.
Also known as Mashramani, this holiday is the National Day of Guyana and commemorates the country becoming a republic on this day in 1970.
History of Guyana Republic Day
Christopher Columbus was the first European to sight Guyana during his third voyage in 1498. Sir Walter Raleigh reported on the region in 1596, but it was the Dutch who first established colonies, importing African slaves to work on sugar plantations.
Did you know?
"Guyana" is an Amerindian word, which means "land of many waters".
The British took control of the Dutch colonies during the Napoleonic Wars, creating a single colony known as British Guiana in 1831.
Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom on May 26th 1966 and declared itself a "cooperative republic" on February 23rd 1970, abolishing its relationship with the British monarchy, but remaining a member of the Commonwealth.
Its heritage means that Guyana is the only South American nation in which English is the official language.
Mashramani
The "Mash" is an annual festival that celebrates Guyana becoming a Republic. The festival has been held on February 23rd since 1970. It includes a parade, music, games, and cooking and is intended to commemorate the "Birth of the Republic", though it includes most of the elements familiar to the Carnivals that take place before the start of Lent elsewhere in Latin America.
As Guyana was never part of the Spanish, Portuguese or French Empires, events such as the Jouvert parade have been adopted from these other Carnivals with nearby Trinidad being a big influence.
