Suriname Facts

Suriname Facts and History

South America

There are a total of three countries that can be referred to as “Guyana”. These are French Guiana, Guyana (the former British Guyana) and Suriname (the former Dutch Guyana). The country is located on the northeast coast of South America and borders Brazil to the south, Guyana to the west, French Guiana to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname is the smallest independent state in South America.

Name of the country Republic of Suriname
Form of government Presidential Republic
Geographical location between around 01 ° and 06 ° north latitude and 053 ° and 058 ° west longitude
National anthem God zij met ons Suriname (Opo! Kondreman)
National holiday November 25 (independence 1975)
Population approx. 585,000 (Credit: Countryaah: Suriname Population)
Ethnicities around 33% are of Indian descent, 33% Creoles, 18% Javanese (Indonesia)and 9% Morrones (descendants of the former slaves who fled into the interior and 2% Indians
Religions Around 20% each are Protestants, Hindus, Roman Catholics and Muslims, as well as natural religions and Jews as small minorities
Languages Dutch is the official language, Hindi and Javanese are still spokenand English and Sranang Tongo are spoken as lingua franca
Capital Paramaribo with around 250,000 residents
Surface 163,265 km²
Highest mountain Julianatop 1,280 m
Longest river Courantyne 726 km
Largest lake Prof. Dr. Ir. WJ Van-Blommestein Meer
International license plate SME
National currency Suriname Dollar (SRD)
Time difference to CET – 5 h
International phone code/mobile network + 597
Mains voltage, frequency 127 volts/60 hertz
Internet TLD (Top Level Domain) .sr

Suriname: history

Before the year 1498

The region has probably been around since around 1,000 BC. Has been settled. Semi -settled Indians of the Karib and Aruak tribes populated the country long before the arrival of the Spanish and Dutch. The country is named after the Indian tribe of the Surines, who had been driven out by other tribes before Columbus arrived.

European colonial period from 1498 to 1667

According to Abbreviationfinder website, Christopher Columbus discovered the future country of Suriname in 1498. However, the Spaniards did not find it interesting as a colony. As a result, Dutch trading companies set up bases on the coast of the country in the early seventeenth century. From 1651 the coast was successfully colonized by the English by building plantations with slaves. The Dutch intensified their colonization efforts from 1654, the year they were expelled from northern Brazil.

Dutch colonial period from 1667 to 1975

In 1667 the Breda Peace Agreement forced Holland to cede Manhattan to England. For this, the territory of the later states of Guyana and Suriname was given to the kingdom as a colony. After the Napoleonic Wars in which the British occupied the area, France received the eastern part. The center, called Suriname, went to the Netherlands. The western part, today’s Guyana, became an English colony.

Under the Dutch administrators, slavery in Suriname was not abolished until 1865. If the hard work on the sugar cane plantations was previously done by African slaves, this is now done by guest workers from Asia. Bauxite was discovered in the country during the First World War. Since then, Suriname has generated 80% of its export revenues with bauxite and its aluminum products. In 1954 the colony received the same rights as the mother country and became an autonomous region with self-government.

Independence since 1975 until today

The Netherlands gave the country independence in 1975. As a result, many residents emigrated to Holland. Suriname lost a third of its population in five years. The emigrants were primarily the wealthy Indian families who feared economic decline from the new Creole government of Prime Minister Henck Arron (1975-1980). A military coup brought Désiré Boutsere to power. The guerrilla war that followed in 1986 with the ” Jungle Commando””did not end until 1992. The country received a new constitution in 1987 and the new civil government elected in the same year was again dissolved by means of a military coup (1990). The economic data on average per capita income and foreign trade are sobering.

Suriname Facts