Guyana Makes Waves

In the 1600s, the Spanish conquistadors who first reached Guyana were apparently so unimpressed by its mineral wealth that they simply moved on.

As it turns out, the Spanish explorers were just too early—by about 500 years.

Guyana, a nation of 740,000 people in a country the size of Idaho, is used to being snubbed. The scenic but disregarded nation is poor and isolated. Few flights connect it to the rest of the world. Per capita GDP is roughly $4,800—about half that of its neighbor to the south, Brazil.