A report on Essequibo River, British Guiana, Cuyuni River and Guyana

The Essequibo River (Spanish: Río Esequibo originally called by Alonso de Ojeda Río Dulce) is the largest river in Guyana, and the largest river between the Orinoco and Amazon.

The Cuyuni River is a South American river and a tributary of the Essequibo River.

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

It rises in the Guiana Highlands of Venezuela, where it descends northward to El Dorado, and turns eastward to meander through the tropical rain forests of the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Region of Guyana.

On January 2, 1895, the "Incident of the Cuyuni river", so named by the general Domingo Antonio Sifontes, was an armed confrontation between Venezuelans and British in the region of the river over the territorial dispute between Venezuela and British Guyana, which under Sifontes the Venezuelans left winners.

Its many tributaries include the Rupununi, Potaro, Mazaruni, Siparuni, Kiyuwini, Konawaruk and Cuyuni rivers.

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

Since its independence in 1824, Venezuela has claimed the area of land to the west of the Essequibo River.

The Dutch colony of Essequibo was founded in 1616 and located in the region of the Essequibo River that later became part of British Guiana.

Venezuela did not accept the Schomburgk Line, which placed the entire Cuyuni River basin within the colony.

Venezuela claimed all lands west of the Essequibo River as its territory (see map in this section).

When the British surveyed British Guiana in 1840, they included the entire Cuyuni River basin within the colony.