the region is in the west of the country. it has an area of 47,213 km². as of the 2012 census, 20,280 people lived there. it borders the regions of barima-waini, essequibo islands-west demerara and pomeroon-supenaam to the north, the region of upper demerara-berbice to the east, the region of potaro-siparuni, brazil to the south and venezuela to the west.