evidence: Guyana is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, by Suriname (along the Courantyne River) to the east, by Brazil to the south and southwest, and by Venezuela to the west. Guyana is involved in territorial disputes with both Suriname and Venezuela that are legacies of colonial rule. Although a United Nations international tribunal settled a long-standing maritime boundary dispute between Guyana and Suriname in 2007, the latter still claims the New River Triangle, a 6,000-square-mile (15,600-square-km) area between two tributaries of the Courantyne River in southern Guyana. The currently recognized border between Suriname and Guyana along the Courantyne is also in contention—Suriname claims sovereignty over the entire river and thus views its west bank as the border, while Guyana claims that the thalweg, or deepest channel of the river, is the boundary. The dispute between Guyana and Venezuela dates from 1895, when the British government claimed ownership of the Essequibo River basin. An 1899 settlement awarded Venezuela part of the area, but in 1962 Venezuela claimed all the territory west of the Essequibo. [...] Guyana’s four main rivers—the Courantyne, Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo—all flow from the south and empty into the Atlantic along the eastern section of the coast. Among the tributaries of the Essequibo, the Potaro, the Mazaruni, and the Cuyuni drain the northwest, and the Rupununi drains the southern savanna. The coast is cut by shorter rivers, including the Pomeroon, the Mahaica, the Mahaicony, and the Abary.