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Indians in Guyana
India has the largest diaspora in the world & as per the Ministry of External Affairs, there are 3.2 Crores or 32 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) residing outside India.
As per the Ministry of External Affairs report, there are 299,382 (2.99 Lakhs) Indians residing in Guyana.
- Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) – 298782 (2.98 Lakh)
- Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) – 600
Guyana Indian population
Indians (Indo-Guyanese) make up around 40% of the Guyana population & approx population of Indians in Guyana as of 2023 is 3 Lakh. Indians in Guyana can trace their ancestors back to northern India, especially the Bhojpur and Awadh regions of the Hindi Belt, and some Indians from the southern Indian states of Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Indians first arrived in Guyana as indentured laborers from 1845 till 1917 and some Indians later came as entrepreneurs beginning in the mid-20th century and continuing till the present day. As per an estimate the states from which Indians arrived in Guyana
- Uttar Pradesh – 62%
- Bihar state – 21%
- Bengal – 6%
- Orissa and Jharkhand state – 3%
- Tamil Nadu state – 3%
- Central India – 3%
- Punjab – 1 %
- Rest of India – 1%
Regions/ Cities with significant Indo-Guyanese populations are
- Essequibo Islands-West Demerara
- Demerara Mahaica
- Georgetown
- Berbice
- New Amsterdam
Religion of Indian population in Guyana
Guyana’s population is 24.8% Hindu and 6.8% Muslim. Hinduism is the majority religion followed by Indo-Guyanese. The breakdown of religious affiliation for Indo-Guyanese is as follows
- Hinduism – 62%
- Christians – 20%
- Islam – 15%
- Others – 3 %
also read about religion in Guyana