The Canje River (sometimes referred to as Canje Creek), located in northeastern

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

, is the main tributary of the

Berbice River The Berbice River , located in eastern Guyana, is one of the country's major rivers. It rises in the highlands of the Rupununi region and flows northward for through dense forests to the coastal plain. The river's tidal limit is between from the ...

. It runs roughly parallel to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

coast in

East Berbice-Corentyne East Berbice-Corentyne (Region 6) is one of ten regions in Guyana covering the whole of the east of the country. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the Nickerie District and Sipaliwini District of Suriname to the east, Brazil to the sou ...

, region 6. The settlement of

Baracara Baracara village was founded by African diaspora in the Americas, people of African descent in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region of Guyana, located on the Canje River. The community has also been called New Ground Village or Wel te Vreeden. Baracar ...

is on the Canje. It was settled by escaped slaves in the 1800s, and the river is still an important mode of transportation.

History

The

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

established an outpost, Concordia Post, on the river. In 1763 a

slave revolt A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of slaves have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream o ...

began on two plantations on the Canje River.

Economics

The Canje River supplies water to the

Guyana Sugar Corporation The Guyana Sugar Corporation, or GuySuCo, is a Guyanese sugar company owned by the government. It is the country's largest cultivator and producer of sugar, a historically important commodity in the country. They produce Demerara Sugar for export ...

's Skeldon Estate (c. ); Albion Estate (); and Rose Hall Estate (). The Manarabisi Rice Cultivation () and Black Bush Polder () also depend on this river. Pumps have been placed along the Canje River that lead to the cultivation area. There are two pumps at Skeldon. These push the water to the long Sandaka Canal then into the sugarcane cultivation area. At the long Manarabisi Canal there are two pumps and three pumps at the long Black Bush Polder. When all these pumps are in operation during the irrigation season, the level of water in the Canje River drops and a sufficient volume of water cannot be supplied. At this point, the gate on the Berbice River end of the Torani Canal is opened to allow for flow into the Canje Creek. In addition to agriculture, the land of the Canje basin has been of some interest by international firms for production of biofuel.

Fauna

Guyana's national bird, the

hoatzin The hoatzin ( ) or hoactzin ( ) (''Opisthocomus hoazin'') is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South America. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Opisthoco ...

, also known as the Canje pheasant is named for its presence in the river.

References

{{Rivers of Guyana Rivers of Guyana