Lethem, Guyana

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City in South America

title: "Lethem, Guyana" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-upper-takutu-upper-essequibo", "brazil–guyana-border-crossings"] description: "City in South America" topic_path: "geography/brazil" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethem,_Guyana" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary City in South America ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameLethem
native_name
settlement_typeTown and regional capital
image_skylineLethem.jpg
imagesize300px
image_captionLethem looking east
dot_x
pushpin_mapGuyana
pushpin_label_positionbottom
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_name[[Image:Flag of Guyana.svg
subdivision_type1Region
subdivision_name1Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo
leader_title1
established_title
established_title2
established_title3
unit_prefImperial
area_total_km2
area_land_km2
population_as_of2012
population_footnotes
population_total1,702
population_blank1_titleEthnicities
population_blank2_titleReligions
timezoneUTC-4
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
postal_code_type
postal_code16
::

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Lethem is a town in Guyana’s south, located in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region. It is the regional capital of Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo.

It is named after Sir Gordon James Lethem, who was the Governor of British Guiana from 1941 to 12 April 1947. The city is populated by 1,702 inhabitants as of 2012.

Lethem has several commercial establishments for shoes, bicycles, shirts and other items; they are especially frequented by Brazilians who usually take goods to Boa Vista, Manaus, Pacaraima and Santa Elena de Uairén.

The annual Rodeo on Easter weekend is the city's main event.

Environment and economy

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/GuyanaRain.jpg" caption="Lethem, looking across the savannah to the south"] ::

Lethem is part of the Guyanese Rupununi savannah where there are many vaqueiros (as spoken in the Portuguese language), or cowboys, and ranches. Local flora/fauna includes various types of cashew trees, both the fruit and nut varieties; mango trees and Coconut trees are also common. There is a cashew processing plant in St. Ignatius, one of the communities that are a part of Lethem. There is also Culvert City, and New Culvert City, and there are several retail establishments throughout the township of Lethem. The Guyanese Dollar and, the Brazilian Reals, and in some stores, even U.S. currency is now accepted by merchants.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/LethemBridge.jpg" caption="New Guyana - Brazil bridge in Lethem"] ::

The Guyanese and Brazilian governments opened a bridge in 2009 over the Takatu river just north of Lethem. It cost US$5 million and was paid for by Brazil. The bridge links northern Brazil to the roads leading to the Atlantic coastal port of Georgetown, Guyana's capital, which is about 423 kilometers (263 miles) to the north.

Water is often drawn from hand dug wells although there is a community water supply, though it is slightly salted. Bottled, filtered water is common and easily available in stores, even in 5-gallon containers.

The area's other economic activities are plant and mineral extraction, and tourism. There is a rodeo event during Easter weekend, beginning on Saturday evening, at the Triple R Ranch, with many activities, including bull riding, "wild cow milking", greased pig competition, horse racing, horse rodeo (both bareback and with saddle) for men or women, and for cowgirls, "barrel" horse races. Ample fresh food is generally available, such as chicken- or pork-on-a-stick, sun-back beef, hot dogs. There are also games, contests and entertainment, including a rope pull between vaqueros, and then vaqueras from Georgetown, competing with area Amerindians.

Conservation International maintains a local office in Lethem through its Guyana programme, Conservation International Guyana.

Airport

Lethem has an airport (IATA Code: LTM) that connects it to the capital, Georgetown with scheduled air service most weekdays. The airport has a single, 6,194 foot (1,888 meter) paved runway with instrument markings, but no lighting. The runway is oriented at 07/25. The approach to 07 is often flown in Brazilian airspace which begins less than 1 km from the threshold. Scheduled service is provided by Trans Guyana Airways, twice a day, via a twin engine, as well as by Air Services LTD. Persons traveling by air to Lethem should know that there are strict weight restrictions for luggage. Weight, depending on booking, could be restricted to less than 20 pounds. At present, all luggage is weighed when flying to or from Lethem, and there is a small charge per kilo of weight. The airport office is located just south of the western end of the runway.

Geography

Lethem lies on the eastern bank of the Takutu River, on the border with Brazil, just across the river from the Brazilian town of Bonfim, Roraima. Lethem is the capital of Region 9 and is a hub linking many of the surrounding villages to Georgetown.

The Takutu River Bridge over the Takutu River was completed in 2009 It cost US$5 million and was paid for by Brazil. and is the only road link between the two countries. The newly built bridge is expected to bring Brazilian goods to the Georgetown Harbour which would be faster than shipping through Brazilian ports.

The town is approximately 280 feet above sea level.

Demographics

According to the 2002 population census, it had 1,178 inhabitants.

Occupation of the population ::data[format=table] | Data | Officials | Professionals and technicians | Clergy | Commerce and Services | agricultural activities | industrial activities | Occup. elementals | S/D | Total | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 50 | 70 | 32 | 151 | 14 | 56 | 66 | 294 | 1178 | ::

Climate

Lethem has a tropical savanna climate (Aw) with moderate to little rainfall from September to April and heavy to very heavy rainfall from May to August.

| width = auto | collapsed = | metric first = yes | single line = yes | location = Lethem (1991–2020) | Jan record high C = 36.5 | Feb record high C = 36.6 | Mar record high C = 37.4 | Apr record high C = 37.0 | May record high C = 36.4 | Jun record high C = 35.5 | Jul record high C = 34.5 | Aug record high C = 39.5 | Sep record high C = 36.8 | Oct record high C = 37.6 | Nov record high C = 37.5 | Dec record high C = 37.4 | year record high C = | Jan high C = 32.8 | Feb high C = 33.0 | Mar high C = 33.6 | Apr high C = 33.1 | May high C = 31.6 | Jun high C = 31.5 | Jul high C = 31.3 | Aug high C = 32.3 | Sep high C = 33.8 | Oct high C = 34.5 | Nov high C = 34.3 | Dec high C = 33.1 | year high C = 32.9 | Jan mean C = 28.3 | Feb mean C = 28.4 | Mar mean C = 28.8 | Apr mean C = 28.7 | May mean C = 27.7 | Jun mean C = 27.5 | Jul mean C = 27.3 | Aug mean C = 28.0 | Sep mean C = 29.1 | Oct mean C = 29.7 | Nov mean C = 29.6 | Dec mean C = 28.7 | year mean C = 28.5 | Jan low C = 23.7 | Feb low C = 23.7 | Mar low C = 23.9 | Apr low C = 24.1 | May low C = 23.8 | Jun low C = 23.4 | Jul low C = 23.2 | Aug low C = 23.7 | Sep low C = 24.3 | Oct low C = 24.7 | Nov low C = 24.8 | Dec low C = 24.3 | year low C = 24.0 | Jan record low C = 19.0 | Feb record low C = 20.5 | Mar record low C = 20.0 | Apr record low C = 20.6 | May record low C = 20.4 | Jun record low C = 20.0 | Jul record low C = 16.8 | Aug record low C = 19.5 | Sep record low C = 20.2 | Oct record low C = 20.5 | Nov record low C = 19.8 | Dec record low C = 20.5 | year record low C = | precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation mm = 16.2 | Feb precipitation mm = 25.4 | Mar precipitation mm = 43.9 | Apr precipitation mm = 108.5 | May precipitation mm = 310.4 | Jun precipitation mm = 305.4 | Jul precipitation mm = 292.7 | Aug precipitation mm = 171.6 | Sep precipitation mm = 98.3 | Oct precipitation mm = 68.3 | Nov precipitation mm = 51.7 | Dec precipitation mm = 39.7 | year precipitation mm = 1532.1 | unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm | Jan precipitation days = 3 | Feb precipitation days = 3 | Mar precipitation days = 3 | Apr precipitation days = 8 | May precipitation days = 17 | Jun precipitation days = 18 | Jul precipitation days = 19 | Aug precipitation days = 13 | Sep precipitation days = 8 | Oct precipitation days = 4 | Nov precipitation days = 3 | Dec precipitation days = 5 | year precipitation days = 104.9 | Jan sun = 236.1 | Feb sun = 199.1 | Mar sun = 212.5 | Apr sun = 188.8 | May sun = 171.4 | Jun sun = 159.7 | Jul sun = 193.5 | Aug sun = 226.4 | Sep sun = 241.5 | Oct sun = 258.6 | Nov sun = 251.1 | Dec sun = 232.6 | year sun = 2571.3 | source 1 = NOAA{{cite web |url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-3-WMO-Normals-9120/Guyana/CSV/Lethem_81006.csv |title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Lethem |publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date = January 29, 2024}}

References

References

  1. "2012 Population by Village".
  3. "Capital towns and economic development".
  4. (2009-09-14). "Brazil and Guyana Inaugurate Border Bridge". THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.
  5. "About CI-Guyana".
  6. [http://www.statisticsguyana.gov.gy/census.html Data from the 2002 census]. Town 47

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

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