A report on Demerara, British Guiana, Berbice and Guyana

Demerara (Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas on the north coast of South America which is now part of the country of Guyana.

Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1815 a colony of the Dutch Republic.

It was a Dutch colony until 1815 and a county of British Guiana from 1838 to 1966.

Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.

After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the latter year, it was merged with Essequibo and Demerara to form the colony of British Guiana in 1831.

The Dutch were the first Europeans to settle there, starting in the early 17th century, when they founded the colonies of Essequibo and Berbice, adding Demerara in the mid-18th century.

It was governed as British Guiana, with a mostly plantation-style economy until the 1950s.

In 1763, a slave uprising took place in neighbouring Berbice.

Although Christopher Columbus was the first European to sight Guyana during his third voyage (in 1498), and Sir Walter Raleigh wrote an account in 1596, the Dutch were the first Europeans to establish colonies: Pomeroon (1581), Essequibo (1616), Berbice (1627), and Demerara (1752).