British Guiana (also spelled Guyana) was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, since 1966 known as the independent nation of Guyana. Its indigenous people are the Arawak-speaking Lucayan, part of the Taino people. As the British developed the colony for sugarcane plantations, they imported many Africans as slave labour. The economy became more diversified since the late 19th century, but has relied on resource exploitation. Guyana became independent of the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966.