Apoteri village is located between the Rupununi and Essequibo rivers. The name Apoteri comes from the Arawak name of a tree. The history and development of Apoteri village is closely tied to the balata industry. In the 1970s Apoteri was formed as a base for the business firm, Booker Brothers, McConnell & Company, popularly known as Bookers. Workers from all over the region came to work there mainly from villages in the south Rupununi like Shea, Sand Creek, Sawariwau and Kraudarnau. Today the village has several tribes including Patamona, Wapishina and Makushi.

In 1973 the village got its first paid teacher and others villages namely Rewa, also came to attend the school. The community credits retired Headmaster and longtime resident, Naidu (from Anna Regina) with the high standard of education and the progression of several students to secondary school in recent years.

In 1987 Guyana Stores started working in the area. The main activities in the community are mainly agricultural such as farming cash crops, planting peanut and fishing which was then bought by Guyana Stores. In 1998 Guyana Stores handed over its activities to the community. The community still relies heavily on subsistence farming and hunting.

Apoteri village has been a member of the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB) since 2002. In 2002, Conservation International Guyana (CIG) created a conservation concession in the upper Essequibo and Apoteri along with Rewa and Crash Water became stakeholder communities. The community now benefits annually from a small grant to support community development under the Voluntary Community Investment Fund (VCIF).