The
Demerara River is a
river in eastern
Guyana that rises in the central
rainforests of the country and flows to the north for 346 kilometres until it reaches the
Atlantic Ocean.
Georgetown, Guyana's largest seaport and capital, is situated on the east bank of the river's
mouth. The Demerara's
estuary is narrow and the flowrate is rapid. This scouring action maintains a 5-to-6-metre-deep direct channel to the ocean. The river's deep brown color is primarily the result of the massive quantities of silt carried from upriver by the powerful currents. So powerful are these currents, that the ocean retains the Demerara's brown color for a considerable distance out to sea.