Georgetown

In 1748, Governor Laurens Storm van 's Gravesande built a guard post at the mouth of the Demerara River. Later English planters started to build houses around the guard post creating a little village. The town was established in 1782 during a brief occupation by the French of the Dutch colony of Demerara. The original name of Longchamps was changed to Stabroek in 1784, after Nicholaas Geelvinck (1732 — 1787), Lord of Stabroek, the then President of the Dutch West India Company. In 1789, the population was 780 people of which 239 were whites, however the town rapidly started to grow and by 1807 had a population of around 8,500 people. American traders started to build a wharf which became known as American Stelling, and little towns started to appear around the main settlement. …

Georgetown is located on Guyana's Atlantic coast on the east bank of Demerara River estuary. The terrain in this part of the country where the city is located is flat coastal plains. The city is surrounded by a blanket of cane fields along with marshy swamps, and savannah lands on its east and south. The elevation of the land is as low as 2 m (6 ft) below the high tide level. This low elevation is protected by a retaining wall known as the seawall to keep the ocean out and an innovative network of canals with kokers to drain the city of excess water. Georgetown has a year-round hot trade-wind tropical rainforest climate (Af). Relative humidity fluctuates throughout the year with the highest occurring in May, June, August and December–January; these months are usually the rainiest part of the year. …

Georgetown's theatre scene is dominantly concentrated on the stages of the National Cultural Centre. Plays are also staged at the theatre guild of Guyana. This is the oldest theatrical performance facility in Guyana. It was opened in 1957 and restored in 2007.