City of Georgetown

The capital and largest city of Guyana, the country's retail and financial centre, and the seat of Parliament and the Caribbean Community.

Population: 125,683; 2022 census
Established: 1781–1782, renamed Georgetown 29 April 1812
Region: Demerara-Mahaica (Region 4)

History

A guard post was built at the mouth of the Demerara River in 1748, and English planters began building around it. The town was established in 1782, during a brief French occupation of the Dutch colony of Demerara, and was first named Longchamps.

It was renamed Stabroek in 1784 after Nicholaas Geelvinck, Lord of Stabroek, then President of the Dutch West India Company. Under British rule it became Georgetown on 29 April 1812, in honour of King George III. One ward, a quarter-mile broad and a mile long, still carries the name Stabroek.

The city sits at roughly sea level on the Atlantic coast, which is why its drainage matters more here than in most capitals — and why the Council maintains hundreds of miles of canals and kokers. It is known as the Garden City of the Caribbean for its tree-lined avenues.

Georgetown in pictures

Georgetown City Hall, the seat of the Mayor and City Council. Photograph by Andrew Moore, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

Stabroek Market, Georgetown — the city's principal market, with its clock tower. Photograph by User:Loriski, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Georgetown City Hall in full, including its tower. Photograph by Andrew Moore, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

A typical tree-lined street in Georgetown. Photograph by Kevin Gabbert, released to the public domain · Public domain

The Council

Mayor: His Worship Alfred Mentore; Entrepreneur; proprietor of Lifetime Group. Previously Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Constituency #4.
Council: City of Georgetown
Region: Demerara-Mahaica (Region 4)
Address: City Hall, Regent Street & Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown

Office-holders as at Sep 22, 2026. Source: Mayor & City Council of Georgetown — mccgt.com/mayor-2/. If anything here is out of date, tell us at the address above and we will correct it.

Established

1781–1782, renamed Georgetown 29 April 1812

Region

Demerara-Mahaica (Region 4)

Area

approx. 37 km²

Elevation

at sea level

Country

Guyana — capital city

This platform

This is City of Georgetown’s own service platform, run for the Council by VertAcc Solutions Inc. It is where residents, businesses and visitors deal with the city online — and it is one of a family of city platforms being built across Guyana, each operated for its own Council and each holding only its own city’s records.

Services catalogued

Service areas

Region

Demerara-Mahaica

City details on this page last reviewed Sep 22, 2026.

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