Surinam

Suriname (Dutch: Suriname), officially the Republic of Suriname (Dutch: Republiek Suriname) ―formerly known as Dutch Guiana, is a country in South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the French overseas department of French Guiana to the east, with Guyana to the west and Brazil to the south. Its territory covers an area of 163,820 km², its population as of 2020, according to World-o-Meter data, is around 588,000 inhabitants, therefore, it is the least populated independent country in South America. Suriname claims several territorial areas located beyond its southern borders with Guyana and French Guiana, respectively. Its capital is the city of Paramaribo. It is divided into ten districts and these into resorts. The country is made up of Catholic, Hindu, Muslim and Protestant communities.

Suriname is the only sovereign state in the Americas whose official language is Dutch, as it belonged to the former Dutch West Indies, but is no longer part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since its independence in 1975.

Toponymy

Amerindia Sculpture of Suriname

The name "Suriname" derives from an Arawaco-speaking Taíno group called the "surine", who lived in the region before the arrival of Europeans. The name of the country was adopted by the British, who founded the first colony on the Marshall Ridge as Suriname, along the Suriname River, and was formally known as Netherlands Guiana, Netherlands Guiana or Netherlands Guiana. A notable example of this is the name of Suriname's own flag carrier, Surinam Airways. The old English name is still reflected in the English pronunciation of Suriname, /ˈsʊrəˌnæm/ or /ˈsʊrəˌnɑm/. In Dutch, the official language of Suriname, the pronunciation is /ˌsyriˈnamə/, with the main accent on the third syllable.

History

The first cultures are supposed to be located in what is now Sipaliwini, since numerous stone objects such as arrows, lithic points, hand axes and knives used by hunters have been found in the Upper Paleolithic (around the X millennium B.C.)^{[citation required]} In the sixth millennium B.C. C., some populations along the Amazon River developed cultivation, which allowed them to grow and move in search of new farmland. To the east of Manaus (Brazil), in the vicinity of the Amazon River, the Tupi settled. Other groups migrated along the Orinoco until they reached the Atlantic coast. Some groups ―such as the Arawaks― settled around the Orinoco Delta, in the coastal plain of Guyana, where they developed their own farming methods, as well as some constructions.^{[citation needed]} Later, the Caribs arrived and conquered the Arawaks using their sailing ships, becoming the two largest tribes in the region. The enmity of both remained until the arrival of the Europeans. The Caribs settled at the mouth of the Marowijne River (what is now Galibi), and while these two large tribes lived on the coast and the savannah, smaller groups of indigenous peoples lived in the inland rainforest, such as the Akurio, Trio, Wayarekule, Warao and Wayana. Among the languages that developed at this time are Arawak Lokono and Mawayana.

Early Europeans

Christopher Columbus sighted the islands in 1498, but it was in 1593 that Spanish explorers returned to the area, now called Suriname, because it was inhabited by the Surinen, a Taíno group. During the first half of the 17th century there were unsuccessful attempts by the Spanish, British, French and Dutch to settle in the place, largely due to the resistance of the natives, breaking this resistance in 1651, when the British Francis Willoughby established an outpost in what is currently Paramaribo.

Colonial period

Fuerte New Amsterdam

The Dutch began to explore and settle Guyana in the late 16th century, followed by the British. Both began to trade with the Amerindian peoples. The first European visitors were Dutch traders, but the first colonies were settled by the British, who brought slaves to work on their plantations. Driven by the legend of El Dorado, the Dutch West India Company established a fort at Kyk-over-al in 1616, which was the first fort in the Guianas, which then comprised three colonies: Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo. In 1667 the British exchanged their part of Suriname for New Amsterdam, present-day New York.

The English maintained control of the area until February 27, 1667, when Abraham Crijnssen, at the time of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, captured the fort after a three-hour battle and William Byam, the second governor, surrendered for lack of gunpowder. The Zeeuw Crijnssen renamed the fortification Fort Zeelandia. By the Treaty of Breda, signed on July 31, 1667, the Republic was allowed to keep Suriname in a kind of exchange with the New Netherlands, which had been conquered by the English. After the British recaptured and lost Suriname, and the Dutch recaptured New Amsterdam during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the existing situation was maintained by the Peace of Westminster. The British also promised to stop appearing in the Banda Islands. Willoughbyland and other Dutch possessions in and around Suriname were renamed Dutch Guiana.

In 1674 three ships were sent to Suriname to transport the approximately 300 British and 1,200 slaves to Jamaica. Among those who wanted to leave the country were Andrew and Jeronimo Clifford. The Zealanders were saddened by the exodus and tried to hold off the British by agreeing sugar prices and supplying new slave armaments as sugar production was in jeopardy.

Inspired by Colbert's French policy, the Society of Suriname was founded in 1683, in charge of managing the plantations and keeping the peace. Around 1685, Labradists and Huguenots also arrived in the colony, but Catholics were prohibited. A pineapple was sent from Suriname, which flourished in the Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam. Maria Sibylla Merian drew fascinating butterflies and exotic flora. At the initiative of Nicolaes Witsen, coffee plants were transported from the Hortus to Suriname.

Attempts to settle inland failed, and Europeans settled on the coast where they created plantations worked by African slaves. In the 19th century, Suriname finally came under Dutch control, except for two periods of British rule between 1799 and 1802, and between 1804 and 1816.

Former slave houses in Berg in Dal, Suriname

In the first half of the 18th century, agriculture in Suriname flourished. The colony was important for the export of lumber, cotton, cocoa, sugar, and coffee. By 1713, Suriname had no more than 1,000 Europeans and 12,000 slaves; in 1750, there were 1,500 Europeans and 30,000 slaves. Until 1739, the WIC controlled the slave trade, bringing in 2,000 African slaves a year to work on the plantations. The planters were poor payers and the WIC left the slave trade to private individuals. The treatment of slaves was very poor from the beginning.

Thousands of slaves escaped into the jungle and planters organized trips to retrieve them, without much success. The runaways settled in small communities and became known as "maroons," or (obsolete) "Maroons". They returned to the plantations regularly to replenish their supplies and free slaves.

The Maroons formed a buffer zone between the Dutch, who settled on the coast and the riverbanks, and the Indian tribes of the interior, not yet subjected. In 1760, the Dutch concluded a peace treaty with the Ndyuka Maroons, later the Aukaners, who were recognized as a free group. A similar treaty followed in 1762 with the Saramaccaners, and in 1767 with the Matawai. The most famous Maroon leaders were Benti Basiton, who played an important role in the 1760 treaty, and Boni (1730-1793), who was based under him at Fort Boekoe in the coastal marshes of Commewijne. No treaty was concluded with the latter, but a battle was fought for many years.

In 1863, the Dutch colonies abolished slavery, replacing this labor force with the labor of Indian, Javanese and Chinese immigrants.

This change made the national ethnic structure even more complex, with a majority of the Indian population attached to their cultural traditions. Creoles descended from slaves, Javanese, Maroon blacks, American Indians, and a small European minority completed the Surinamese spectrum.

Ethnic, cultural and linguistic differences have been crucial factors in the difficulty of the emergence of a national consciousness. The Creoles, united in the Nationale Partij Kombinatie (NPK), now the National Party of Suriname, fought for independence after World War II. Jagernath Lachmon's Vatan Hitkari, the current Progressive Reform Party, which expresses the interests of the Indian population, largely made up of merchants and businessmen, tried for its part to postpone it.

In October 1973, the independentistas won the legislative elections and Henck Arron, leader of the National Party of Suriname (NPS), was appointed prime minister of the local government, which had already had a certain degree of autonomy since 1954.

Independent story

Johan Ferrier, the first president of Suriname (1975-1980). He was deposed in a military coup.

Finally, on November 25, 1975, Suriname's independence from the Netherlands was formally declared. That same day the congress met and appointed the previous governor, Johan Ferrier, as president and Henck Arron as prime minister. After independence, Suriname experienced a migration of at least 1/3 of the population that retained its Dutch nationality to the old metropolis. In 1977 the NPS took control of the majority in parliament and Arron was confirmed in office. During this time, the multinational companies Suralco and Billiton monopolized the bauxite industry (the only exportable product) and in fact the entire economy of the country, which caused high levels of corruption and heavy external indebtedness.

The economic crisis that Suriname experienced since 1979 motivated a revolution on February 25, 1980 led by Desiré Bouterse and another group of soldiers called "The coup of the sergeants" that managed to overthrow Arron from power. Refusing to step down, Ferrier appointed independent Hendrick Chin A Sen of the Nationalist Republican Party (PNR) as prime minister.

Desi Bouterse, dictator of Suriname between 1980 and 1988. He carried out a persecution of the political opposition.

Military pressure forces Ferrier to resign on August 15, 1980, then a National Military Council is formed, whose leader Bouterse maintains Chin A Sen as prime minister. The existing discrepancies between the Cuban-style socialist idea of Bouterse and the democratic one based on the holding of free elections of Chin A Sen, motivated a separation between the two figures, which would end with their resignation on February 4, 1982 and exile. from Chin A Sen. The Military Council would then name the president of the congress, Ramdat Misier, as provisional president.

On December 15, 1982, 15 leaders opposed to the regime were captured and assassinated in Fort Zeeland, a fact known as "The December Murders." In 1983 the state of alarm was declared and martial law applied. The Netherlands suspends its aid to the country and Suriname closes its diplomatic mission in Cuba. Protests by trade union centers forced the council to form a new government with Errol Alibux as prime minister. To the south and east of the country the guerrillas led by Ronnie Brunswijk and supported by the Netherlands would break out.

The protests intensified in 1985, once again allowing political parties, but what this did was foment popular unrest, now encouraged by the opposition leaders who demanded the restitution of the constitutional order. In 1986 the guerrillas had gained ground and were approaching Paramaribo. Union and worker organizations called for a national strike and new protests that brought the country to a complete halt. In December the executive cabinet resigned in protest and by March 1987 a new constitution was approved to make way for a democratic transition. The main opposition parties formed a Democratic Mega Coalition under the name "Front for Democracy and Development" whose leader, Ramsewak Shankar, was elected the first democratic president since independence in the elections of November 25, 1987.

Shankar assumed the leadership on June 25, 1988 under a relatively fragile footing, as he had yet to share power with Bouterse as the military head, also naming Henck Arron as prime minister. In 1989 an amnesty with the guerrilla groups was declared, which would earn him his military support. On December 24, 1990, Bouterse, along with another group of soldiers, took power and dismissed Shankar. The Military Government Junta is restored, which quickly hands over power to Johan Kraag, president of the National Assembly.

Snap elections on May 25, 1991 give a clear victory to NPS leader Ronald Venetiaan, by then the leader of a multi-ethnic coalition. His government reduced the role of the armed forces in the political life of the country and in 1992 a pacification process was opened with the guerrilla groups integrating into political parties. The 1996 elections gave a simple majority victory to Venetiaan, however, the Electoral Council of the Regions called for a recount of votes, this time giving victory to Boutersist Jules Wijdenbosch of the NDP.

In 1997 Bouterse is brought to trial in the Netherlands for acts of drug trafficking and murder for the events of 1982. In 1999, social unrest due to the serious economic crisis and hyperinflation led to successive protests in the capital led by the leaders unions. In June the largest general strike called an indefinite strike to put pressure on the government, and in October the parliament dismisses the entire executive cabinet of Wijdenbosch and calls for early elections in May 2000, this time Venetiaan being elected.

New economic austerity measures, including a 90% devaluation of the guilder and swapping the old currency for the dollar, succeeded in reducing inflation and boosting economic growth. These financial results encouraged Venetiaan's re-election in May 2005. However, government attrition and broken promises were enough to elevate Bouterse in the 2010 election with the support of his old enemy Ronnie Brunswijk and that of a Mega Opposition coalition, evading the judicial sentence for the murder of opponents in 1982.

In Suriname's 2015 parliamentary election, Bouterse was re-elected president of the country.

In the 2020 elections, opposition parties led by Chan Santokhi's Progressive Reform Party managed to defeat a weakened National Democratic Party and reach a government deal, allowing Santokhi to take over as the new President of Surinam.

Politics

The Republic of Suriname is a representative democratic republic, based on the 1987 Constitution. The country is made up of the following ten districts: Brokopondo, Commewijne, Coronie, Marowijne, Nickerie, Para, Paramaribo, Saramacca, Sipaliwini and Wanica. Each is governed by the city council or municipality.

Headquarters of the National Assembly (De Nationale Assemblée) view from the Rio Surinam

Resorten are the lowest administrative level. At the same time as the National Assembly elections, the members of the district councils are elected according to the so-called personal majority system. In this system, voters have as many votes as seats to distribute, and candidates are elected in order of the total number of votes obtained. District councils have limited executive powers and primarily play a signaling role to the Paramaribo government.

Districts have slightly more executive powers and have a separate executive board, consisting of a government-appointed district commissioner and deputies. The district council seats are distributed proportionally between the parties based on the total distribution of seats in the district councils.

Legislative Branch

The legislature is made up of a National Assembly (De Nationale Assemblée), a unicameral parliament of 51 members, who are elected every five years by the people of Suriname in free and secret general elections. Since the 2020 election, Marinus Bee is the Speaker of the Assembly and Dew Sharman the Vice President.

In the elections held on Tuesday, May 25, 2010, the Megacombinatie won 23 of the seats in the National Assembly, followed by the National Front with 20 seats. A much smaller number, important for coalition building, went to the "A-combinatie" and for the Volksalliantie. The parties held negotiations to form coalitions. Elections were held on May 25, 2015, and the National Assembly re-elected Desire Bouterse as its president.

The National Assembly (ADN) is the parliament of Suriname. It is based in the former Buiten-Sociëteit Het Park, designed by P.J. Nagel in 1954, in the Plaza de la Independencia in Paramaribo. The building was occupied after a fire completely destroyed the old National Assembly building on August 1, 1996.

In addition to the National Assembly, Suriname has the United People's Assembly (Verenigde Volksvergadering), which brings together the National Assembly, district councils and resort councils if necessary. they want two thirds of the Assembly and also in a number of special cases.

Executive Branch

Cabinet of Ministers of Suriname in 2015

The president of Suriname is elected to a five-year term by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly. If at least two thirds of the National Assembly do not agree to vote for a presidential candidate, a Popular Assembly is formed with all the delegates of the National Assembly and the regional and municipal representatives who were elected by popular vote in the last elections. nationals. The president can be elected by the majority of the Popular Assembly called for the special election.

As head of government, the president appoints a cabinet of sixteen ministers. The vice president is usually elected for a five-year term at the same time as the president, by a simple majority in the National or Popular Assembly. There is no constitutional provision for the removal or replacement of the president, except in the case of resignation.

Judicial Branch

The judiciary is headed by the Suriname High Court of Justice (Supreme Court). This court oversees the trial courts. Members are appointed for life by the President in consultation with the National Assembly, the State Advisory Council and the National Order of Private Lawyers.

The legal system is based on that of the Netherlands, although there are clear differences in some respects. The matching principle can explain the clearly identifiable Dutch orientation in legal life. The highest instance of jurisdiction is the Court of Justice of Suriname. Members of the Court are also charged with administering justice in the sub-district (lower) courts. The judiciary is based on Chapter XV of the Constitution. The judges are appointed by the President of the Republic.

Political parties

Palace of Justice in ParamariboHof van Justitie)

The political parties that had parliamentary representation in the 2020 elections were:

• Vooruitstrevende Hervormingspartij (‘Progressive Reform Party’).
• NDP (National Democratische Partij: ‘National Democratic Party’).
• Algemene Bevrijdings- in Ontwikkelingspartij (Partido de Liberación y Desarrollo General).
• Nationale Partij Suriname (‘National Party of Suriname’).
• Broederschap in Eenheid in Politiek (Fraternity and Unity in Politics).
• Pertjajah Luhur

Human rights

In terms of human rights, regarding membership of the seven bodies of the International Bill of Human Rights, which include the Human Rights Committee (HRC), Suriname has signed or ratified:

Status of major international human rights instruments

Suriname	International treaties
	CESCR		CCPR			CERD	CED	CEDAW		CAT		CRC			MWC	CRPD
	CESCR	CESCR-OP	CCPR	CCPR-OP1	CCPR-OP2-DP			CEDAW	CEDAW-OP	CAT	CAT-OP	CRC	CRC-OP-AC	CRC-OP-SC		CRPD	CRPD-OP
Pertenence
Signed and ratified, signed, but not ratified, neither signed nor ratified, without information, it has agreed to sign and ratify the body concerned, but also recognizes the competence to receive and process individual communications from the competent bodies.

Foreign Relations

Presidential Palace in ParamariboPresidentieel paleis)

President Dési Bouterse was convicted and sentenced in the Netherlands to 11 years in prison for drug trafficking. He is the main suspect in the court case concerning the December murders, the 1982 assassination of opponents of the military government at Fort Zeelandia, Paramaribo. These two cases continue to strain relations between the Netherlands and Suriname.

Due to Dutch colonial history, Suriname has long had a special relationship with the Netherlands. The Dutch government has stated that it will maintain limited contact with the president.

Bouterse was elected president of Suriname in 2010. In July 2014, the Netherlands stopped including Suriname in its development agenda.

Since 1991, the United States has maintained positive relations with Suriname. Both countries collaborate through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) and the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Suriname also receives military funding from the United States Department of Defense.

Relations and cooperation between the European Union and Suriname take place at both bilateral and regional levels. There are ongoing dialogues between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and between the EU and CARIFORUM. Suriname is party to the Cotonou Agreement, the association agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the European Union.

On February 17, 2005, the leaders of Barbados and Suriname signed the "Agreement for the Deepening of Bilateral Cooperation between the Government of Barbados and the Government of the Republic of Suriname" On February 23 and April 24, 2009, both nations established a Joint Commission in Paramaribo, Suriname, to improve relations and expand the areas of cooperation and held a second meeting with this objective on March 3 and 4, 2011, in Dover, Barbados. Its representatives reviewed issues of agriculture, trade, investment and international transport.

Ministry of Finance of Suriname

In the late 2000s, Suriname intensified development cooperation with other developing countries. China's South-South cooperation with Suriname has included a series of large-scale infrastructure

Suriname is a member of numerous international organizations. Among them, since its independence, Suriname is a member of the UN, the OAS and the Non-Aligned Movement. Suriname is a member of the Caribbean Community and Common Market and the Association of Caribbean States. It is associated with the European Union through the Lomé Convention. Suriname participates in the Amazon Pact, a grouping of the countries of the Amazon basin that focuses on the protection of the natural resources of the Amazon region against environmental degradation.

As a reflection of its status as a large bauxite producer, Suriname is a member of the International Bauxite Association. The country also belongs to the Economic Commission for Latin America, the Caribbean Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Suriname became a member of the Islamic Development Bank in 1998, under the Wijdenbosch government. In 2003, Suriname joined the Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union).

Bilateral agreements with various countries in the region, covering various areas of cooperation, have revealed the government's interest in strengthening regional ties. The return to Suriname from French Guiana of some 8,000 refugees from the 1986-91 civil war between the military and national insurgents has improved relations with French authorities. Longstanding border conflicts with Guyana and French Guiana remain unresolved. Negotiations with the Guyanese government, mediated by the Jamaican Prime Minister in 2000, did not result in an agreement, but the countries agreed to resume talks after the 2001 Guyanese national elections. In January 2002, the presidents of Suriname and Guyana they met in Suriname and agreed to resume negotiations, establishing the Suriname-Guyana border commission that would begin meeting in May 2002. An earlier dispute with Brazil ended amicably after the formal demarcation of the border.

In May 1997, then-President Wijdenbosch joined President Clinton and 14 other Caribbean leaders at the first US regional summit in Bridgetown, Barbados. The summit reinforced the foundation of the Association for Prosperity and Security in the Caribbean, which establishes a framework for cooperation in the areas of justice and the fight against narcotics, finance, development and trade.

Armed Forces

It has three branches, an Army, a Navy and an Air Force, the president is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, who is assisted by the Minister of Defense.

Army of Suriname

Army

The National Army (Nationaal Leger) is the armed force of the Republic of Suriname. The largest component is the terrestrial one, which consists of a light infantry battalion. There is also a modest air component with some helicopters and light aircraft, and a naval component with some patrol boats. The National Army is made up entirely of professional soldiers.

In mid-August 2020, five weeks after taking office, President Chan Santokhi announced that he would reform the National Army into a multifunctional institute, which can also be deployed to support the Surinamese Police Force, for development tasks and to fight crime.

Air Force

In 1982 a modest air force (LUMA or Luchtmacht) was formally created within the National Army. The first military aircraft was a Hughes 500 Model 369D helicopter with the simple registration SAF-100 (Suriname Air Force one hundred). This aircraft had an unfortunate accident on March 31, 1982 during a mission in the interior, killing all four occupants, including the pilot, and four Defenders were purchased from Britten-Norman that same year. These flew under the registration numbers SAF-001, SAF-002, SAF-003 and SAF-004. The fleet was subsequently expanded with a Cessna 172 Skyhawk (SAF-007), a Cessna 206 Turbo Stationary-6 (SAF-200) and a Cessna 303 Crusader (SAF-008). All of the flight equipment was used for transport, light observation, border control and rescue missions. In 1983, Air Force pilot Eddie Djoe, then a lieutenant, was appointed commander of the Surinamese Air Force. In 1989, while rising to Major, he died in the SLM disaster.

Flights of the Surinamese Air Force take place mainly from Zorg en Hoop airfield in Paramaribo, and also occasionally from Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport in Zanderij, Major Henk Fernandes Airport in Nieuw-Nickerie, Moengo and Albina.

Navy and Coast Guard

In 1977, the Surinamese Navy (Marine van Suriname) took delivery of three patrol vessels from the Netherlands, built by De Vries Scheepsbouw. With a length of 32 meters and each boat powered by two 1200 hp Paxman 12YHMC diesel engines, these vessels could reach a top speed of 20 knots. The vessels were transferred to Suriname between February 1977 and 1978 under bow numbers S-401, S-402 and S-403. These ships have been out of service for years; the last operational vessel, the S-401, later became the P-401 and remains berthed at the Paramaribo naval port. One of the other two was converted into a luxury yacht and can still be seen on the Suriname River. As of 2015, most of the ships used by the Surinamese Navy are based in Domburg.

In November 2012, the Minister of the Interior announced that the Ministry of Defense had ordered three patrol boats from the French company OCEA for the newly created Coast Guard (called Kustwacht).

Military Police Corps

The Military Police Corps (locally called Korps Militaire Politie) is an independent unit of the National Army.

In order to carry out their duties as efficiently as possible and maintain the quality of the motorcycles, the motorists of the Military Police Corps attended a driving and skills training from June 10 to 13, 2014. These training sessions training were given by Yamaha experts from Japan. In the process, the pilots were given agility drills and the most basic maintenance operations for each engine. In addition, they were taught the correct position to sit and how to act in case of calamities.

11 members of the Military Police Corps participated in a course on Defensive Tactics for Public Order and Security Military Operations from April 11 to 15, 2014. This course was the culmination of a series of training sessions in which They taught new tactics. These were derived from the techniques and tactics of the Combat Readiness Program. The knowledge and skills acquired will contribute to a more effective and efficient conduct of tactical operations.

Civilian Police

The Suriname Police Corps (KPS or Korps Politie Suriname) is the police force of the Republic of Suriname. The corps reports to the Ministry of Justice and Police. It is responsible for maintaining peace, order and security in society, detects crimes and monitors compliance with laws and regulations in Suriname.

From an organizational point of view, the force can be divided as follows:

• 

  Former police station in Frederiksdorp
  General police
• Special police
• Military police

There are also several brigades, such as the Narcotics Brigade and, during the corona crisis, the COVID-19 Brigade.

In 1828 the distinction between local and national police was introduced. The tasks of the local police were carried out by police officers from Paramaribo; the national ones, by soldiers. In 1863, the year of the abolition of slavery, the Military Police Corps was created, which assumed the tasks of the national police. Command of both police forces was in the hands of the attorney general. An assistance body of BAVP (Special Police Agents) was also created. Then, in 1867, the Quartermaster Corps was added. In the districts on the outskirts of Paramaribo, the police were directed by district commissioners (dc).

Administrative organization

Suriname is divided into ten districts (in Dutch districten), and these are in turn into resorts.

	District	Capital	Surface (km2)	Percentage (%)	Population (2012)	Percentage(%)	Density (hab/km2)	Ressorts	Map
1	Brokopondo	Brokopondo	7364	4,5	15 909	2.9	2,16	6
2	Commewijne	Nieuw Amsterdam	2353	1.4	31 420	5.8	13,35	6
3	Coronie	Totness	3902	2.4	3391	0.7	0.87	3
4	Marowijne	Albina	4627	2.8	18 294	3.4	3,95	6
5	Nickerie	Nieuw Nickerie	53	3.3	34 233	6.3	6.40	5
6	Stop.	Onverwacht	5393	3.3	24 700	4.6	4.58	5
7	Paramaribo	Paramaribo	183	0.1	240 924	44,5	1316.52	12
8	Saramacca	Groningen	3636	2.2	17 480	3.2	4.81	6
9	Sipaliwini	----	130 567	79.7	37 065	6.8	0.28	6
10	Wanica	Lelydorp	442	0.3	118 222	21.8	267,47	7
	Suriname	Paramaribo	163 820	100.0	541 638	100.0	3,31	62

Geography

Map of Suriname with disputed territories.

Suriname, the smallest country in South America, is located on the Guiana shield, the highest point is: Juliana Top (1286 m.a.s.l.), located in Sipaliwini. It has an area of 163,820 km², which in terms of extension is similar to Tunisia or the US peninsula of Florida. This figure does not include the disputed sectors that are controlled by Guyana (15,603 km² Tigri region) and by France (3,439 km² Marowijne-Litani area).

The territory is divided into the northern coastal strip of the Atlantic Ocean and the interior. The first is a fertile and cultivated coastal plain where most of the population lives, land characterized by sandbanks and mud product of the characteristics of the waters of the Amazon River, which are deposited in this area due to equatorial currents.. The second is the interior, basically made up of the Sipaliwini and Brokopondo regions, it is sparsely populated and characterized by the existence of dense tropical forests.

Climate

Due to its proximity to the equator, the climate of Suriname is equatorial, subequatorial and tropical, temperatures do not vary much during the year, which has two seasons, the dry and the rainy season. The heaviest rains occur between April and September, however the rain is frequent throughout the year. Morning temperatures vary between 28 °C and 32 °C, while at night, the temperature drops to around 21 °C. Annual temperatures are between 23 °C and 32 °C.

Nieuw Nickerie, Suriname.

Climate change

This section is an extract of Climate Change in Suriname.[chuckles]edit]

Prediction between 2071 and 2100.

Climate change in Suriname refers to the effects of climate change in Suriname. These effects include increased temperatures and increased weather events. As a relatively poor country, their contributions to climate change have been limited. In addition, due to high forest coverage, the country has had a negative carbon economy since 2014.

Suriname was the second country to update its National Determined Contribution by 2020.

Hydrography

In the northeast of the country is the Brokopondo reservoir, formerly called Professor W. J. van Blommestein, with an area of 1,350 km². It was built in order to obtain the necessary energy for the extraction of aluminum and bauxite mining reserves, mainly in the town of Zanderij. The dam was built in the 1960s.

The following are the main rivers of the country: Suriname, Courantyne, Coppename, Marowijne, Nickerie, Saramacca, Tapanahony and Paloemeu. They all flow into the Atlantic Ocean.

Fungu Island in Suriname

Geology

Suriname's geology can be divided into four zones: 90 percent of the mainland is made up of the Guiana Shield. The coastal plains account for the remaining ten percent. Off the coast are the Demerara Plateau and the Guyana-Suriname ocean basin.

The first known geological survey in Suriname dates from 1720, when Governor Jan Coutier commissioned Salomon Herman Sanders to survey the upper Corantijn River for gold deposits. Friedrich Voltz made the first systematic geological survey in 1853. Voltz reported in letters to the Dutch geologist Winand Staring. In 1888, Karl Martin published the first topographical map of Suriname with geological data, which also summarized the findings of Voltz's charts for the first time. Until about 1900, interest was mainly in gold. Until the 20th century, interest in the country's geology tended to be more or less local and incidental. In 1931, Robert IJzerman compiled all the geological research of the period 1853-1930 in his doctoral thesis, which gives a fairly complete picture of the geology of Suriname and is provided with a map of the geological survey.

Coastal Plain

Knowledge of the geology of the Suriname coastal plain continued to increase during the 20th century. In 1931, IJzerman made a general description of the sediments found in the foreland. He distinguished two groups of layers: the fluvio-marine deposits, in which clay and sand appear, with or without shell fragments, and the older continental alluvium, formed largely by coarse white sand, sometimes containing humus. The fluvial-marine deposits lie in a belt immediately along the coast, and continental alluvium surfaces in a belt behind them, wedged against the rocks of the Guiana Shield.

Geologist Jan Zonneveld, who around 1950 worked at the Central Office of Aerial Mapping in Paramaribo, was of the opinion, after studying water level profiles, field research and interpretation of aerial photos, that on the surface not two, but three elements should be distinguished, that is, from north to south:

• The young coastal plain, which lies just above sea level. Mara and Coronie formations, age: Holocene, 16 200 km2
• The ancient coastal plain, located at a slightly higher level. Coropine formation, age: Pleistocene, 4300 km2
• The Sabana Belt or Sand Belt: a slightly undulating plain, bordered in the south by the country of the hills. Herring formation, age: Pliocene, 8750 km2

Guiana Basin

Monte Voltzberg in Suriname

Suriname's geological history resumed 230 million years ago in the Triassic period - after a long pause of 860 million years - with the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea. Traces of this rupture can also be found in the montaneous area of Eastern Suriname in the form of Jurassic-era apatoedolerite, which broke through on active faults. Until then, Florida lay north of Suriname, in the stretch of ocean that now forms the Guyana-Suriname ocean basin. A hot spot occurred at the level of the Demerara Plateau and the Guinea Plateau, Pangea opened up, and Florida moved north and west, with the Bahamas emerging in its wake.

During the Cretaceous, Africa broke away from South America, and near Suriname the Demerara Plateau broke away from the Guinean Plateau. Capped by Jurassic-era sediments, and in the calcareous deposits above them, Apache Oil drilled oil in 2020 in offshore Block 58.

Borders

Suriname is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, French Guiana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Guyana to the west.

• 600 km with Guyana
• 597 km with Brazil
• 

  Map of Guayanas in 1826
  510 km with France of Ultramar (Guayana Francesa)

However, the country's land borders remain uncertain, mainly in the south of the country, where territorial disputes rage with French Guiana in the east and with Guyana in the west along the Marowijne and Corantijn rivers. While a part of the disputed maritime border with Guyana was arbitrated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration convened under the rules set out in Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on September 20, 2007.

A poster displays a map that includes the claims of Suriname

In 1860, the question was raised from the French side as to which of the two tributaries of the Marowijne River (also called Maroni and Marowini) was the headwaters and thus the border. A joint Franco-Dutch commission was appointed to look into the matter. The Dutch part of the commission consisted of J.H. Baron van Heerdt tot Eversberg, J.F.A. Cateau van Rosevelt and August Kappler. Luits Vidal, Ronmy, Boudet and Dr. Rech made up the French part. In 1861 measurements were made that yielded the following result: the Lawa had a flow of 35,960 m³/minute with a width of 436 m; the Tapanahony had a flow rate of 20,291 m³/minute with a width of 285 m. Thus, the Lawa River was the headwaters of the Maroni River.

Detailed map of areas disputed by Suriname to its neighbors Guyana and French Guiana

There were no problems with this decision until 1885, when the discovery of gold in the area between the Lawa and the Tapanahony created a new border conflict. On November 29, 1888, France and the Netherlands reached an agreement that the conflict should be submitted to arbitration. Tsar Alexander III of Russia, acting as an arbitrator, decided that the Lawa was the headwaters of the Maroni, and therefore should be considered the border. The Netherlands and France concluded a border treaty on this stretch of the river on September 30, 1915.

However, this decision created another problem as to which river is the source of the Lawa, an issue still unresolved.

Robert Schomburgk himself set the borders of British Guiana in 1840. Taking the Courantyne River as his border, he sailed to what he considered its source, the Kutari River, to delimit the border. However, in 1871, Charles Barrington Brown discovered the New River or Upper Courantyne, which is the source of the Courantyne. Thus was born the New River Triangle dispute.

The tribunal that dealt with the 1895 Venezuela Crisis (Guayana Esequiba) also 'illegally' the New River Triangle to British Guiana. However, the Netherlands raised a diplomatic protest, claiming that the New River, and not the Kutari, should be considered as the source of the Courantyne and the border. The British government responded in 1900 that the issue was already settled by the Netherlands. long acceptance of the Kutari as a border. Both Venezuela and Suriname do not recognize the borders established by that award.

Biodiversity

Exemplar of Dendrobates azureus, native frog of Sipaliwini district in Suriname

Suriname's biodiversity is great. The diversity of life forms is mainly due to differences in the type of landscape and temperature. Suriname is divided into four ecological zones:

• the young coastal plain,
• the ancient coastal plain,
• the savannah or the sand belt and,
• the perennial highlands of the interior.

New life forms continue to be discovered in Suriname. According to Ottema, the thick-billed or twatwa cracker is an endangered species. The great macaw and the musk duck or wood duck have seriously declined in numbers.

The Guyanese woodpecker is likely an endemic to Suriname, as the species is not known with certainty from neighboring Guianas.

The Nature Protection Law of 1954 and the Hunting Law of 1954 form the basis of nature protection in Suriname. The Hunting Decree of 2002 develops the Hunting Law of 1954. The giant anteater, the kwatta monkey, the ocelot, the jaguar, the jungle dog and the dolphin are some of the mammals that are under full protection in Suriname according to the law.

Plainness

Lepidoptera Butterfly in Suriname

The coastal plain is largely desolate and inaccessible, made up of mud banks, sandy beaches, bird-rich mangrove forests, and lagoons. The mud banks are created by the Guayana River carrying mud which is deposited in various places along the coast. Crabs, worms and small crustaceans live in the mud banks. Birds, such as North American waders, use the mud banks as a feeding ground during migration seasons. The mud banks are home to mangrove forests, better known as parwa forests.

Mangrove forests are known for a multitude of functions. One of them is the defense of the coast and its shores against damage caused by floods. Other functions are the nursery, the filter and the production of wood, food and honey. Another income generating function is ecotourism. Young parwa forests are used as nesting and roosting sites by red ibis (Eudocimus ruber) and several species of herons.

The sandy beaches are used by four species of turtles as breeding grounds. These turtles are:

• Aitkanti or lute (Dermochelys coriacea)
• The silent turtle (Chelonia mydas)
• Warana (Lepidochelys olivecea)
• Karet (Eretmochelys imbricated).

Sheets

River dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) in Suriname

The savannahs of Suriname are home to a large number of plant species. Depending on their vegetation, savannahs can be classified into shrubby and herbaceous savannahs and wooded savannahs. The savannah forest is distinguished by taller and denser vegetation. Depending on the soil conditions, the savannahs are classified as clayey, brown sand, white sand and rock. Plant species found in the savannahs are lemkiwisi (Cassaytha filiformis), sundew (Drosera sp.), savannah-fungu (Licaniai acana) and the camphor plant (Unixia camphorata). Animals found in the savannahs are: turtles (Chelonodis sp.), snakes, iguanas (Iguana iguana), deer (Mazama sp..) and kapasi (Dasypus sp.).

Mountains

Inland Suriname are mountains such as Brownsberg, Nassaubergte, and Lelygebergte. This mountainous country is part of the Guiana Shield. The Guiana Shield is one of the best preserved forest and aquatic regions in the world. It consists of more than 90% virgin tropical forest and has a rich flora and fauna.

Coastal waters and rivers

Flamencos in the district of Nickerie

The coastal waters of Suriname, like coastal Guiana, French Guiana, and northeastern Brazil, are part of the Guiana ecoregion. The marine fish, crustaceans (shrimps and crabs) and shellfish (snails and bivalves) of Suriname are known to some extent. However, other groups of marine animals have barely been studied. The fin whale (Epinephelus itajara) is an endangered species. Small and large rivers flow from the south to the north, where they empty into the Atlantic Ocean. In estuaries and coastal waters, the river dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) stands out, with its light pink belly. Suriname has approximately 61 endemic freshwater fish. Many of these endemic species are catfish. The freshwater fish fauna of Suriname is not yet well known.

Biodiversity Protection

On June 27, 1950, the then Governor J. Klaasesz submitted two bills to the States of Suriname (Parliament) for approval. These bills were the Hunting Act of 1954 and the Nature Conservation Act of 1954.

-The Hunting Law of 1954: The objective of the Hunting Law was to legally regulate hunting, which in 1954 was still practiced without any restrictions, in the interest of wildlife and hunting itself. Today, people hunt with modern methods for sport and trade. This creates a danger of extinction for certain animal species. For this reason, the Hunting Law prohibits certain actions with respect to protected animals, such as capturing, killing, attempting to capture, or killing. Protected animals include all specified marine mammals, birds, turtles and other animals belonging to a species that lives in the wild in Suriname. The exceptions are:

• Hunt,
• Frozen animals and,
• 

  Bigi Pan Nature Reserve
  Harmful animals.

The Ministry of Land Planning and Forest Management further defines what is meant by the above categories. Hunting of these animals is allowed under certain conditions. The Hunting Law of 1954 is valid for all of Suriname. However, in the south of the country there are no closed seasons. A "limit" for a number of animal species, but the law does not apply to the entire country.

-The Nature Conservation Act of 1954: Based on this law, the President can designate land and water as a nature reserve. The area must have varied natural and scenic beauty and/or flora, fauna and geological objects of importance to science or culture. It is prohibited, among other things, to damage the soil, the natural beauty, the fauna, the flora in a nature reserve, intentionally or through negligence, or to carry out actions that are detrimental to the value of the reserve. It is also prohibited to camp, build a fire, chop wood or burn charcoal, hunt, fish, and bring a dog, firearm, or any hunting or trapping equipment into a nature reserve without a permit from the Chief of the National Forest Service.

In 1954, it seemed premature to set aside areas in uninhabited Suriname for the protection and conservation of flora, fauna, and geological objects. However, at the time it was considered of great importance to start this reserve, since valuable areas could be preserved for the protection and conservation of flora, fauna and geological objects. According to Dominiek Plouvier, former director of WWF- In the Guianas, the Nature Conservation Act was written at a time when protection was imposed by the government, without involving the local population.

Economy

Mining Industry of Suriname

Exports to		Imports
Country	Percentage	Country	Percentage
SwitzerlandSwitzerland	47.7 per cent	United States	22.8%
United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates	30.1 per cent	ChinaChina	20.5 per cent
United States	7.66 per cent	NetherlandsNetherlands	18.9 per cent
ChinaChina	2.31%	JapanJapan	4.35%
BelgiumBelgium	2.27%	BrazilBrazil	2.91 per cent
Other	9.9 %	Other	30.5 %

Suriname's economy is highly dependent on other countries. Its main trading partners are the Netherlands, the United States and countries in the Caribbean.

After assuming power in autumn 1996, the Wijdenbosch government ended the previous government's structural adjustment programme, claiming it was unfair to the poorest elements of society. Tax revenues decreased as the old taxes expired and the government did not apply new tax alternatives. In late 1997, the allocation of new Dutch development funds was frozen as the Surinamese government's relations with the Netherlands deteriorated. Economic growth slowed in 1998, with a decline in the mining, construction, and public services sectors.

Excessive government spending, low tax collection, a bloated civil service, and reduced foreign aid in 1999 contributed to the fiscal deficit, estimated at 11% of GDP. The government tried to cover this deficit through monetary expansion, which caused a dramatic increase in inflation. In Suriname it takes on average longer to register a new company than in virtually any other country in the world (694 days or about 99 weeks).

It is based on aluminum production, which represents approximately 15% of GDP and two thirds of total exports. The country's economic problems are serious, due to the strong dependence on foreign trade on two raw materials that have suffered, since 2000, sudden price changes in the international market: aluminum and oil. This entails notable variations in GDP, the unemployment rate, external debt and inflation annually.

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Suriname

The plans started in 2001 to reorganize the economic system, open a process of liberalization and improve the productive structure have had disappointing effects. Some American and Spanish companies carry out new oil explorations and exploitations that are giving good results. Likewise, the country has significant gold and bauxite mining reserves.

In 2004 the guilder was replaced by the Surinamese dollar. In 2005, Suriname, along with other countries in the region, signed an energy agreement with Venezuela called Petrocaribe, through which the conditions for acquiring oil and derivatives are more convenient.

On September 20, 2007, the ruling was issued by the international court of arbitration, which definitively delimits the maritime border with Guyana, leaving the land border pending, which includes the New River Triangle Region.

Suriname's economy was dominated by the bauxite industry, which accounted for more than 15% of GDP and 70% of export earnings as of 2016. Other main export products are rice, bananas and shrimps. Suriname has recently begun to exploit some of its considerable oil and gold reserves. Approximately a quarter of the population works in the agricultural sector. The Surinamese economy is highly dependent on trade, with its main trading partners being the Netherlands, the United States, Canada and the Caribbean countries, mainly Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles. (Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire)

Currency

$20 bill of Suriname

The national currency is the Surinamese dollar (=100 cents); code: SRD. On January 1, 2004, the Surinamese guilder was replaced by the Surinamese dollar. The face value was thus reduced by a factor of a thousand. Thus, one thousand Surinamese guilders have been converted into one Surinamese dollar. A peculiar side effect is that old coins, no longer in use due to devaluation, suddenly became worth a thousand times as much. Since early 2016, the pegged relationship to the US dollar has been loosened and since March 2016 the exchange rate has been fixed through a series of weekly currency auctions. Afterwards, the exchange rate was freed up and increased slowly. Towards the end of 2016, the exchange rate reached a level of 7.50 SDRs per dollar, after which it stabilized at this level. This came to an end on September 22, 2020. The exchange rate against the US dollar was halved from 7.52 SRD per US$1 to 14.018 SRD (buy) and 14.29 SRD (sell)..

Mining

Mina de Rosebel

Suriname is very rich in natural resources and therefore occupies an important place in the list of countries with the most resources of this type. Natural resources are timber, gold, oil, bauxite and kaolin. There are also small amounts of nickel, copper, platinum, and iron ore. Other branches of the economy are agriculture (agriculture, livestock, poultry farming and fishing), wood and trade.

In the 21st century gold was discovered in the town of Tapanahoni in Sipaliwini district, attracting many people from other parts of Suriname, but also from other parts of the world (especially Canada and Brazil). Gold is a very important economic activity today. In Suriname, about 30 tons of gold are produced and exported per year. Gold exports generated an average of about 1.5 billion dollars a year between 2011 and 2013, which represented two thirds of the total exported by the nation.

An important pillar of the Surinamese economy was the mining of bauxite by Suralco and Billiton near the town of Moengo, not far from Albina. During World War II, production increased considerably for the war industry and by 1950 Suriname had a share of over 25% of world bauxite production. In 2008, the value of alumina exports was surpassed by that of gold. Alcoa was negotiating with the State for the sale of Suralco, but in December 2014 the Government rejected a proposal. Alcoa completely ceased its activities in 2015 and on January 1, 2020 transferred ownership to the State of Suriname. South of Paramaribo, the construction of a dam on the Suriname created the lake Prof. Dr. Ir. W.J. van Blommestein; the Afobaka hydroelectric power station, located on the lake, supplies electricity, including for aluminum production. The state-owned company Grassalco is engaged in gold mining, extracting stone chips, operating a granite mine, and propagating plants.

Map of Oil and Gas Licensing Blocks of Suriname in its Exclusive Economic Zone in the Atlantic Ocean

Oil

Another important pillar is oil extraction by Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname N.V., mainly in Saramacca, a district 45 kilometers from Paramaribo. This company has been active since December 13, 1980 and Suriname is its sole shareholder. For more than 30 years, Staatsolie has contributed to the development of Suriname. The company is also an agent of the State, actively promoting Suriname's hydrocarbon potential and controlling oil deals on behalf of the State.

In neighboring Guyana, large oil reserves have already been demonstrated in the Stabroek block, but in Suriname, these reports did not materialize until early January 2020. However, on January 6, 2020, the US oil company Apache and Total SA announced that they had found a significant oil field off the coast, in a well called Maka Central-1. The two companies continue to drill to discover more oil. In March 2020, a second discovery was announced, Sapakara West-1. Apache talks about a "significant finding" no further details. A third find, Kwaskwasi-1, was produced later in July and was rated the best of the three finds. No details on the amount of oil on the seabed have been released. A fourth discovery in the Keskesi Este-1 well was announced on January 14, 2021, and a second discovery in the Keskesi Este-1 well was announced in July 2021.

Agriculture

It is a sector of the Surinamese economy that reports to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

In 2017, the main products were rice, bananas and vegetables. The agricultural sector then represented 11.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP), including fishing in Suriname, with a significant part for tail shrimp and yellowfin tuna. 11.2% of Surinamese work in this industry.

Academicly, the University of Suriname offers courses in agricultural sciences; the Celos academic research center is located nearby. In addition, the Polytechnic College of Suriname has several agricultural studies. In addition, there are secondary (Natin) and high school courses.

House in the Old Cacao plantation in Frederiksdorp

Agronomic knowledge and ideas are often lacking in village farming. To also reach villagers in the most remote areas, the Ministry has repeatedly gone to the districts to provide courses and training, such as in the remote village of Ricanaumofo. The Ministry has also launched projects to support the sectors, grants are awarded and equipment is loaned.

In addition to business organizations, the Suriname Association of Exporters of Agricultural Products, the Suriname Farmers Federation and the Suriname Agricultural Sector Support Association (Agras) are also active.

Since 2015, Farmers' Day is celebrated annually on October 8, and the Most Sustainable Farmer in Suriname is elected annually; in 2020 this award was presented to Naga's Pickles in Wanica by businessman Ashokkoemar Narain.

In 2008, the Agrarian Credit Fund was created with funds from the Treaty, with loans for small and medium-sized companies at a low interest rate. Minister Lekhram Soerdjan raised the fund in December 2018 and transferred it to the National Bank Development Bank (NOB) In late 2020, the Santokhi government discussed the reactivation of the fund with the United States and the Netherlands; both countries expressed interest in supporting the fund.

Tourism

Tourism in Suriname includes visits within the country and abroad and consists mainly of leisure and business. The industry has been developing since the mid-20th century and Suriname opened its first international hotel in 1962.

Río Surinam

Tourism has a stabilizing influence on Suriname's economy. It provides foreign currency and reinforces employment. There are environmental problems that affect the quality of tourism, due to waste in nature and mercury poisoning from small mining.

Peak season runs from mid-August to early October, then back again around Christmas and the turn of the year. Travelers from distant countries arrive at Zanderij airport. The road network is limited and of variable quality, and people drive on the left. For security reasons, it is not recommended to travel alone, in slums and in remote areas. Travelers from Europe have to apply for a tourist card; West Indians don't have to. Certain vaccinations and mosquito repellency measures are recommended.

A trip to Suriname means encountering a multi-ethnic society that usually speaks the Dutch language. Paramaribo is home to a large number of tourist attractions. The historic center of the city has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2002. The entertainment area is also located here. The capital is usually the starting point and arrival point for visits to other parts of the country. Through the East-West connection, you can visit the places on the coast; white bathing beaches are basically not to be found. National trips have as their main objective the experience of nature and contact with the local population. Here is also the Central Suriname Nature Reserve, the largest protected rainforest in the world, which is also on the World Heritage list.

Transportation

Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge

Suriname and its neighbor Guyana are the only two continental countries in the Americas where you drive on the left. In Guyana this practice is inherited from colonial times; In the case of Suriname, despite the fact that it was colonized by the Netherlands, where driving has always been done on the right, this practice was also implemented due to British influence.

Suriname also has a network of highways and railways, and the use of maritime routes is important.

Air Transportation

Suriname Airlines (SLM), also called Surinam Airways, is the national airline of Suriname. In addition, there are four national/regional airlines: Blue Wing Airlines, Fly All Ways, Gum Air and Caricom Airways. The national airport is Johan Adolf Pengel de Zanderij International Airport, 40 km south of Paramaribo, with international connections to Amsterdam, Miami (United States), Belém (Brazil) and the Caribbean region. Around half a million travelers use the airport each year. In addition to this airport, there are four other airports with paved runways and 44 airports with unpaved runways. Zorg en Hoop airport, in Paramaribo, is the most used airport in the country, especially for domestic air transport.

Roads

In Suriname you drive on the left, along with neighboring Guyana it is the only country in continental America, as well as the United Kingdom and Japan, among others with this practice. Many cars are imported from Japan, mostly second-hand. The trucks are usually second hand from the Netherlands and therefore have the steering wheel on the left side. The buses are small. Important traffic arteries are the East-West connection and the J.F. Kennedyweg (also called motorway).

Ports

The most important mode of transportation in Suriname is water transportation. In total there are 1,200 km of waterways. There are ports at Albina, Moengo, Nieuw-Nickerie, Paramaribo, Paranam and Wageningen. There are piers along the rivers in every settlement. N.V. Havenbeheer Suriname manages Suriname's largest general port at Paramaribo, as well as Nieuw-Nickerie.

Airlines

Airlines from Suriname

• Blue Wing Airlines
• Gumair
• Suriname Airways
• Fly All Ways

Former railway in Suriname

Airlines that operate to Suriname

• Caribbean Airlines, Trinidad and Tobago.
• GOL Brazilian Airline.
• KLM from the Netherlands.
• TUI Netherlands.
• Trans Guyana Airways.
• Copa Airlines of Panama.

Railroads

The country holds the remnants of the old Onverwacht to Brownsberg Lawa (single gauge) railway (originally designed from Paramaribo to Benzdorp on the Lawa, but only completed as far as Dam), which has not been used since the 1950s 1980, plus the standard gauge railway from Apoera to the Bakhuis Mountains (72 kilometers 'from nowhere to nowhere'), built between 1976 and 1980 as part of the Western Suriname Plan. It was never officially put into service. Almost all of the rolling stock is rusty or has been resold.

In November 2014, the Surinamese government announced detailed plans for the construction of a new railway line. The 29 kilometer line will go from Paramaribo to Onverwacht. According to the plans, the two-way line will operate with high frequency. This should make the overloaded road network safer. The Dutch company Strukton is one of the candidates for construction. It is a project of 530 million Surinamese dollars.

Communications

Internet

Suriname is connected to the rest of the world via two undersea Internet cables. In Paramaribo, the Deep Blue cable (under construction) will land, which will connect Suriname's Internet with Guyana, Trinidad, Curaçao, Aruba and Florida, among others. In Totness, the maritime cable of the Suriname-Guyana Submarine Cable System (SG-SCS), a more local cable that will connect the Internet of Suriname with Guyana and Trinidad, will disembark.

The internet country code is: mr.

Demographics

Evolution of the population between 1961 and 2003.

According to the 2012 census, Suriname has a population of 541,638, of which about half are concentrated in the capital Paramaribo, which has 242,946 people. Nationally, population density is low, of 3 inhab/km², rising however in the capital, to 1,334 inhab/km².

Suriname's population is made up of many groups. Of these, the largest is the Hindustani (Hindostani), made up of immigrants who arrived in the 19th century from India, and which constitutes about 27% of the population. Maroon (descendants of African slaves) account for 21%, while mulatto, a mix of black and white, and Javanese (descendants of indentured laborers from the former Dutch East Indies) account for 16 and 14% respectively. The rest is made up of mestizos, Amerindians, Chinese and whites.

Due to the large number of ethnic groups in the country, there is no predominant or majority religion. According to the most recent data, 48.4% of its population belongs to the Christian religion, among them Catholics, there are also other Protestant groups such as Moravians, Evangelicals, Methodists, Lutherans, among others. There are also 22.3% Hindus, 13.9% Muslims; Finally, the remaining 15.4% is comprised of people who profess indigenous religions, and those who declare that they do not belong to any religion.

The vast majority of the population resides in and around Paramaribo or in the coastal area. There is a significant Surinamese population (approximately &&&&&&&&&0350000.&&&&&0350,000) residing in the Netherlands.

Children of Suriname with school uniform

Education

Compulsory education was introduced in Suriname in 1876 and has not changed since. At first, teachers couldn't make ends meet on what they earned, so they often had side jobs: surgeon, shoemaker, painter. However, many incompetents were allowed to open schools. In the early days, neither in the Netherlands nor in Suriname was there formal training for teachers.

Since the Republic was not a unified state, education was subject to regional regulations. Much was regulated and determined by the church. But education, both in the Netherlands and in the colony, was poor. At the end of the 18th century, education was not yet generally considered a necessity for prosperity and well-being. Many children did not go to school. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the education of children in school had a religious purpose and the teaching was mainly religious.

In the Netherlands, including Suriname, school fees had to be paid when the colonial government began supervising education. In 1827, the Maatschappij van Weldadigheid was founded by the settlers Copijn and Vlier. The Society was very concerned about the poor socio-economic situation of the lower classes in Suriname. The foundation supported destitute children and ensured that children from small, wealthy families could continue to enjoy education. Even after these children left school, the Surinaamsche Maatschappij van Weldadigheid made sure that they learned a trade or another profession. This society paid for this education. The number of students increased more and more.

As far back as the 18th century, wealthy parents sent their children to the Netherlands and would always remain so. Johannes Vrolijk was the first color teacher. On his return from studying in the Netherlands, he opened his own school and it changed and improved education in Suriname at the turn of the century XIX .

Laws of 1817 and 1834 greatly improved education in Suriname. In 1834 clear regulations were drawn up for education in Suriname, what teachers had to abide by, how supervision was carried out, how examinations were to be conducted, and the like. There was also a rating system for teachers. In a school, at least one teacher or teacher's assistant had to have the lowest rank (the fourth rank). The grading system had four grades.

Polytechnic College of Suriname

Education is currently compulsory for children between the ages of 7 and 12, and 93% of the total population can read and write. Education in Suriname is divided into primary, secondary and tertiary:

Primary education is the ordinary primary education (G.L.O.), or primary schools. This education consists of public schools (O.S.) and public colleges. Public schools are under the management and authority of the government.

The VOJ and the VOS belong to secondary education: that is, the Secondary Education for Juniors and the Secondary Education for Seniors.

Tertiary education is higher education, including: all post-secondary level courses for which at least a VOS level diploma or its equivalent is required for admission. ADEKUS, IOL, LOBO, PTC and AHKCO are institutions that depend on MINOV.

Suriname has a university called Anton de Kom University, founded in 1966 and located in the capital, Paramaribo.

Emigration

The choice to become a Surinamese or Dutch citizen in the years before Suriname's independence in 1975 led to mass migration to the Netherlands. This migration continued in the immediate post-independence period and during the military rule in the 1980s, and for mainly economic reasons it continued throughout the 1990s. The Surinamese community in the Netherlands numbered 350,300 people in 2013 (including children and grandchildren of Surinamese migrants born in the Netherlands); this number compares with the approximately 566,000 Surinamese in the country itself.

According to the International Organization for Migration, some 272,600 people from Suriname were living abroad at the end of the 2010s, notably the Netherlands (about 192,000), the French Republic (about 25,000, the most of them in French Guiana), the United States (about 15,000), Guyana (about 5,000), Aruba (about 1,500), and Canada (about 1,000).

Hospital Universitario de Paramaribo

Health

The fertility rate was 2.6 births per woman for 2004. Public debt was 3.6% of GDP in 2004, while private debt was 4.2%. There are 45 doctors per per 100,000 population in the early 2000s. Infant mortality was 30 per 1,000 births. Male life expectancy at birth was 66.4 years, while female life expectancy he was 73 years old at birth.

There are five large hospitals in Paramaribo: the Paramaribo University Hospital (Academisch Ziekenhuis Paramaribo), the RK Sint Vincentius Hospital, the Lands Hospital, the Wanica Hospital and the Diakonessenziekenhuis Hospital. There is also a hospital in New Nickerie with about 100 beds (Nickerie Lachmipersad Mungra Regional Hospital). Health care problems are largely due to lack of government funding, emigration of doctors and nurses (brain drain), and poor transportation and infrastructure facilities. Inside, attention is paid to so-called mission posts.

The Suriname Psychiatric Center provides mental health care.

Hospital of Saint Vincent, World Heritage

World Heritage Site

The Sint Vincentius Hospital, also known as RKZ, is a hospital dating from 1916, located at Koninginnestraat 4 in Paramaribo (Suriname). This building is part of the historic center of Paramaribo, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2002.

On September 29, 1894, the first Sisters of Charity of Our Lady, Mother of Mercy, also known as the Sisters of Charity, arrived in Suriname for the purpose of caring for leprosy patients. Koch, head of the Military Hospital, left the Military Hospital in 1910. The population wanted them to stay and signed a petition to that effect, which led to the establishment of the first private hospital in Suriname on January 9, 1911, where the sisters cared for the sick in two houses at the then Gravenstraat nr 72.

The hospital was solemnly consecrated by Bishop Van Roosmalen on July 19, 1916 (the feast of Saint Vincent), after which the hospital was inaugurated when there was still no electricity or running water. However, it was a modern building. and hygienic. The first medical director was Johan Frederik Nassy (1866-1947), who held it until 1938. In 1956, the hospital was expanded with an outpatient clinic.

In 1956, St Vincent's Hospital was extended to include an outpatient clinic, which was supported by funds from the Welbaartsfonds.

Collage de Carteles published in Dutch on various sites in Suriname

Languages

Dutch is the official language of Suriname, which joined the Dutch Language Union in 2004, and is also the most widely spoken, being the first language of 46.6% of the population. The language Sranan Tongo, which is an amalgamation developed by former slaves, mixing Dutch and English in a grammar of African linguistic base, is widely used as a second language (37% of the population). In addition, English and Spanish, especially in international and tourism environments, as well as in the border areas with Guyana. In fact, Suriname's closest relations are with the English-speaking countries of the region, having joined Caricom in 1995. On the side In the eastern part of the country, along the border area with French Guiana, French also has a certain extension. For commercial reasons, there is also a presence of Lusophones, also due to its proximity to Brazil, and the descendants of Chinese emigrants, Indians and Japanese, for their part, have preserved the languages of their ancestors. The Caribs and Arawaks, natives of the place, speak their own languages.

Suriname is the only country in South America where Dutch is the official language (Excluding Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire, off the coast of Venezuela).

In recent years, some citizens have proposed changing the Dutch language to English as the official language, in order to improve links with the Caribbean and North America, or to Spanish, as a reference to the location of Suriname in South America, although said country does not border any Spanish-speaking nation.

Culture

Fuerte Zealand (Fort Zeeland) was established in 1653

Due to the mix of population groups, the culture of Suriname is very diverse. The predominant culture is a mixture of Dutch, Indonesian and indigenous elements.

Heritage

Suriname has two monuments inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The Central Suriname Nature Reserve was added as a natural heritage in the year 2000. It is the largest nature reserve in Suriname and one of the largest protected tropical forests in the world. Since 2002, the historic center of Paramaribo, with its many monumental wooden buildings, is also listed as cultural heritage. In addition, since 1999, Jodensavanne has been listed on UNESCO's provisional list of World Heritage Sites.

Other places of interest include the Fort Zeelandia museum, which is part of the historic center of Paramaribo. Some of Suriname's once numerous plantations have been restored and can be visited, such as Laarwijk and Frederiksdorp. Modern architecture, including many of Paramaribo's public buildings, was carried out in particular by the architect Peter Nagel, who was active in Suriname in the decades after World War II. Most of the other cultural facilities and attractions are concentrated in the capital, including the Paramaribo Zoo.

Literature

Most of the texts of Surinamese literature are written in Dutch or Sranan(tongo), although since 1977 there has also been a significant increase in Sarnami literature. The texts written in the other languages are scarcer, but in almost all of them there is still a living oral tradition.

Cinema

Former cinema of the Bioscoop Tower, Paramaribo

Due to competition from television, videotape and DVD, there were no regular cinemas until June 2010. At the time, there were several: Bellevue, Luxor, Tower, Star, Metro, Empire, The Paarl, Jasondra and others. The Paarl was converted and in 2019 it became a leisure center with two cinemas. Movies are shown there throughout the week. There is also a sex cinema and some movie theaters where a film festival is held several times a year.

One of the big organizers, The Back Lot, organizes film festivals in Suriname every year since 2002: in December there is the International Documentary Festival (IDFA Flies T(r)opics) and in April the International Film Festival Feature Films (IFFR Flies Paramaribo). In 2007, it was held from April 19 to 29 in various theaters, such as the Thalia, the Stadszending and the CCS. Feature films from all over the world were screened. The audience was of various ages. This was taken into account in the selection of the films.

In March 2008 the De Paarl Movies theater opened, and in June 2010 the TBL Cinemas multiplex. The latter has five modern movie theaters.

Media

• Radio transmitters: 34 FM, 4 AM and 3 shortwave stations

• Some radio stations: Radio SRS; Radio Boskopu; Radio 10 Magic FM; Radio ABC; Radio Apintie; Sky Radio Suriname; Radio Rapar; RP; Noer FM; SCCN Radio; Radio Zon; Radio FM Gold; SrananRadio, Radio Radika, Radio Trishul, Radio Ramasha

• Radio programs: ABC News, In de Branding, Bakana Tori Original (BTO); Circuits reported; 90 seconds; In my opinion; The Sunday Talkshow; Towards a Better Suriname; Lovers time; Bungu-Bungu-Carrousel

• TV chains: 23, plus 7 repeaters. Several programmes of the Dutch public radio broadcasting (NPO) are broadcast through the channels of Suriname. For a summary of channels, see the list of television channels in Suriname.

• Some television channels: STVS; ATV; GOV TV; DNA TV; SCCN; ABC; Apintie TV; RBN; PIPEL; SBS; SGM TV; Ramasha TV; SCTV; Trishul TV; RTV

• Newspapers, magazines and news websites:

Music from Suriname

The country is well known for kaseko music, and its Indo-Caribbean traditions or customs. The word kaseko probably comes from the expression "casser le corps" (to break the body) that was used during slavery to designate a very fast dance. The kaseko is a fusion of numerous popular and demosophical styles from Europe, Africa and America. It is rhythmically complex based on percussion instruments, including the skratji (a very large drum) and snare drums, as well as the saxophone, trumpet, and occasionally trombone.

Can be sung solo or in chorus. The songs are generally call and response, as are the styles of the Creoles of the area, such as the kawina.

The kaseko evolved in the 1930s during festivities that used big bands, especially wind bands, and were called Bigi Poku (big drum music). During World War II, jazz, calypso, and other trends became popular, while rock music in the United States soon left its own influence in the form of electric instruments.

Catholic Cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul (Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskathedraal) in Paramaribo.

Religion

Suriname is home to a great diversity of faiths and ethnic groups. Its constitution establishes freedom of worship. According to 2012 census data, 48.4% of its population is Christian, including Catholics (21.6%) as well as Protestant groups including Moravians, Lutherans, Dutch Reformed, Evangelicals, Baptists, and Methodists. For their part, 22.3% are Hindu, 13.8% are Muslim, 3.3% belong to indigenous religions, and 10.7% declare they have no religion.

The four largest denominations in Suriname are the Catholic Church. (21.6%), Hindus Sanatan (18.0%), Full Gospel (11.2%) and Evangelical Brotherhood (11.2%). The Full Gospel or Pentecostal movement also has a presence. The group of the various Protestant churches (VE, EBG, Lutheran and Reformed Church) amounts to 23.6% (not including the categories Other Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses).

Christianity

According to the 2012 census, 117,261 Catholics live in Suriname, making the Catholic Church the largest religious denomination in the country (21.6% of the population) Catholicism is more common among indigenous people (56%), mestizos (43%), Creoles (41%), Boeros (35%), Maroons (23%) and Chinese (14%). Among Javanese Surinamese (5%) and Hindus (2%), there are relatively few Catholics.

On November 11, 2015, Bishop Karel Choennie was appointed Bishop of Paramaribo by Pope Francis. The diocese of Paramaribo is part of the ecclesiastical province of Port of Spain, in Trinidad and Tobago. The bishop participates in the Episcopal Conference of the Antilles, under the presidency of Patrick Christopher Pinder, Archbishop of Nassau (Bahamas). In addition, the bishop is a member of the Latin American Episcopal Council. The Set of all Christian groups reaches 48.4% of the population.

Hinduism

Hindu Temple in Paramaribo (Arya Dewaker tempel)

Hinduism, originating from the Indian subcontinent, was introduced to Suriname in the late 19th century by indentured workers from the then British East Indies. Religion in its various groups or currents accounts for 22.3% of believers. According to the 2012 census, it is present mainly in two streams: Sanatana Dharma (80.7%) and Arya Samaj (13.8%). In 1971, the Hindu holiday Holi-Phagwa became a public holiday.

The most important organization in the Surinamese Arya Samaj is the Arya Dewaker ("Sol Ario") association, which manages the large Hindu temple in Paramaribo. The shrine attracts visitors of various faiths as well as non-Hindus.

Islamic

Islam arrived in Suriname after the abolition of slavery with the arrival of indentured laborers from South Asia, beginning in 1873. The forms of Islam in Suriname are strongly influenced by the culture of the regions of origin: India and Indonesian (Java).

Of the South American countries, Suriname has the highest percentage of Muslims. In the 2012 census, this percentage was 13.9%.

The majority of Muslims in Suriname do not feel affiliated with any particular faith: 53%. When asked, 28% call themselves Sunni Muslim and 19% follow the Ahmadiyya.

Among Javanese Surinamese, Islam is the most important religion, while among Indian Surinamese (''Hindus'') it is second.

Moengo Festival

Festivals and events

Due to its multicultural heritage, Suriname celebrates various ethnic and religious holidays. Several holidays are unique and only celebrated in Suriname. They are the festivals of Hindu, Javanese and Chinese immigration. They celebrate the arrival of the first boats with their respective immigrants. Also, there are various Hindu and Muslim festivals such as Divali and Phagwa, and Suikerfeest and Sacrificefeest respectively. These holidays do not have specific fixed days in the Gregorian calendar: they are based on the Hindu and Islamic calendars, respectively. Fireworks can be sold from December 27 to December 31 and fired from December 27 to January 2.

Since 2013, the town of Moengo, in the eastern district of Marowijne, has hosted the annual Moengo Festival, with alternating editions of music, theater and dance, and visual arts. Attendance went from a few thousand on the weekend of 2013 to over twenty thousand in 2018.

Official national holidays:

• 1 January - New Year
• 1 March (variable) - Holi-Phagwa
• 1 May - Labor Day
• June 5 - Indian Immigration
• 1 July - Ketikoti
• August 9 - Day of Indigenous and Javanese Immigration
• October 10 - Cimarron Day
• 25 November - Independence Day
• December 25 - Christmas Day
• December 26 - St. Stephen's Day

Tjauw min moksi meti speciaal, Chinese mixed meat dish from Suriname

Gastronomy

Surinamese cuisine is very broad, with the population of Suriname originating from almost the entire world. Surinamese cuisine is thus a combination of a large number of international cuisines, including Hindustani (India), African, Javanese (Indonesia), Chinese, Dutch, Jewish, Portuguese, and indigenous. This has made Surinamese cuisine have many dishes where different population groups have started to use and influence each other's dishes and ingredients (fusion), from which new Surinamese dishes emerged. The most famous Surinamese dishes are roti, nasi goreng, bami, pom, snesi foroe, moksimeti and losi foroe. From this mixture of cultures with the Surinamese, the unique Surinamese cuisine emerged.

Different products are frequently used in Surinamese cuisine. The staple foods are rice, local fruits such as tayer and cassava (Creole) and roti (Indian). Salted meat and bakkelauw are frequently used as condiments. Long beans, okra, and boulanger are examples of vegetables in Surinamese cuisine. To give the dishes a spicy flavor, fresh chilies are used, such as the very hot Madame Jeanette.

Parbo beer, with its typical djogo liter bottles, is the largest beer brand in Suriname. Other alcoholic beverages are rum, of which Mariënburg rum is well known, coming from the old sugar plantation of the same name. More about rum production can be seen at the Surinaamsch Rumhuis museum. Kasiri, or "yuca beer," is a light alcoholic drink made with yucca by the indigenous people. The most consumed non-alcoholic drinks and syrups are orgeade, made with almonds, and dawet, made from coconut and rice flour.

Sports

Essed Stadium

The most outstanding athlete in the history of Suriname is the swimmer Anthony Nesty, Olympic champion of the 100-meter butterfly in the 1988 Seoul Games and bronze in this same test in Barcelona 1992. These are the only Olympic medals won by this country. The swimmer Ranomi Kromowidjojo, despite the fact that she is of Surinamese origin, competes for the Netherlands.

For its part, the Suriname Football Federation was created in 1920 and became a member of FIFA nine years later within the CCCF group (one of the predecessors of Concacaf), however, the country It is geographically located in South America. Its National Soccer Team ranks 139th in the FIFA ranking as of August 2021.

Most national players develop their professional careers outside the country. Many of these players have achieved success mainly in European countries, and in particular in the Netherlands. Some players like Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Aron Winter, born in Suriname, play or played for European clubs. Similarly, having Dutch nationality, they have played their national team matches with the Netherlands.

For their part, the wrestlers Ernesto Hoost and Remy Bonjasky, K-1 champions, were born in Suriname, as were their colleagues Rayen Simson, Melvin Manhoef, Tyrone Spong, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Regian Eersel and Donovan Wisse. Basketball players Francisco Elson and Charlon Kloof are also of Surinamese origin.

Dutch athlete Nelli Cooman, a sprint specialist and multiple-time indoor world champion in the 60-meter sprint, was born in Paramaribo.

Medals at the Olympic Games

Games				Total
Seoul 1988	1	0	0	1
Barcelona 1992	0	0	1	1
Total	1	0	1	2