A country of northeast South America on the Atlantic Ocean. The region of Guiana was settled in the early 1600s by the Dutch, who competed with the British and the French over the next two centuries for control of the coast. Awarded the western portion of Guiana in 1815, Great Britain established (1831) the colony of British Guiana, which gained its independence as Guyana in 1966. Georgetown is the capital and the largest city.