Guyana South American nation in which English is the official language. The majority of the population, however, speak Guyanese Creole, an English-based creole language, as a first language. Guyana is part of the Anglophone Caribbean. CARICOM, of which Guyana is a member, is headquartered in Guyana's capital and largest city, Georgetown. In 2008, the country joined the Union of South American Nations as a founding member. The name "Guyana" derives from "Guiana", the original name for the region that formerly included Guyana (British Guiana), Suriname (Dutch Guiana), French Guiana, and parts of Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil. According to the "Oxford English
East-West Link (Suriname) by Pitou van Dijk, the Linden-Paramaribo section has only secondary priority with IIRSA at the moment. The East-West Link has a ferry connection with Guyana on the western side since 1998, connecting South Drain with Moleson Creek. In the east there has been a ferry between Albina and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in French Guiana since 1969. Within the framework of the IIRSA, the Suriname Planning Bureau has done some studies on the incorporation of the East-West Link in the Pan-American Highway. Suriname has been part of the Pan-American Highway project since 1982. Apart from the reconstruction of the East West Link as