May 26 – Independence Day in Georgia and Guyana

Posted on May 26, 2016

Today one of these two nations – Georgia or Guyana – celebrates the 1918 adoption of the Act of Independence in response to the Russian Revolution. And one the other celebrates gaining its independence from Great Britain in 1966.

Do you know which is which?

Guyana is located in South America; it was called British Guiana when it was a colony.

And Georgia had been a part of the Russian Empire for a century, but it broke away after Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik party took over Russia. Georgia didn't remain an independent republic for very long, though; about three years after the declaration of independence, this Eastern European nation fell to Soviet armies, and it became a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It is now an independent republic again, of course!

Here are some facts. Figure out which of each pair pertains to Georgia, and which to Guyana:

Capital city is Georgetown
Capital city is Tbilisi

Borders on the Black Sea, which connects to the Mediterranean Sea and thus the Atlantic Ocean
Borders on the Atlantic Ocean and is located close to the Caribbean Sea

Has a red and white flag:
Has a red, green, and yellow flag:

English is the only official language, but most people speak a Creole
The vast majority speaks a language named after the country

With about 80% of the nation covered with forests, it's home to about 8,000 plant species – half of which are found nowhere else in the world!
Home to about 1,000 species of vertebrates, including large carnivores like lynxes, Caucasian leopards, and wolves.