The Co-operative Republic of Guyana is nestled in the mainland of the Caribbean region, bordered by Brazil to the south and southwest, the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Suriname to the east, and Venezuela to the south. It is the third smallest sovereign country and the sole nation in
South America that uses English as its official language. Economic activities in Guyana include agriculture, gold and bauxite mining, minerals, timber, and shrimp fishing.
The country has been using the Guyanese dollar since January 29, 1839. Before the Bank of Guyana was established in 1965, banknotes were issued by private banks such as the British Guyana Bank and the Colonial Bank that was later on taken over by Barclay’s Bank.
The 1965 issues of the Guyanese dollar features the bank seal depicting the rice, ship construction, timber, and minerals industries of the country. The Kaieteur Falls is also shown on the notes. The waterfall is named after Chief Kai who sacrificed himself by canoeing over the fall to please the Great Spirit Makonaima to protect his tribe from a raiding savage Caribs.
On the higher denominations of 1988 - 1992 issues, the waterfall design was replaced with a map of Guyana illustrating rivers and gold, diamonds, sugar, bauxite, and timber reserves. The 2011-2013 issues of 500 and 1,000 banknotes have similar designs but with improved security features such as the denomination as electrotype on its watermark, holographic stripes, a windowed security thread on the reverse, and registration devices.
In 2016, the Bank of Guyana issued a 50-dollar note to commemorate its 50th anniversary of independence from the United Kingdom on May 26, 1966. The note was released along with new 2,000 and 5,000 dollar coins. In 2019, a new 1,000 banknote was issued bearing enhanced security elements including a 6-mm blue RAPID security thread that replaces the holographic stripe, and a solid security thread instead of the windowed security thread.