Suriname, the former colony of Dutch Guiana, is the smallest
independent country on the South American continent. Suriname is a
fascinating destination that boasts a diverse culture, impressive nature
and rich wildlife. The cultural diversity is reflected in music, cuisine
and festivals. The lush rainforest, rivers and waterfalls offer
opportunities for adventure and ecotourism. The country's wildlife
includes species such as jaguars and giant otters.
Landforms: The
diversity of landforms in Suriname makes the country an interesting
destination for nature lovers and adventure travelers. It offers a
wealth of outdoor activities, from jungle hikes to river tours, to
explore the country's natural beauty and wildlife.
Coastal
regions: Suriname's coastal regions stretch along the Atlantic Ocean and
are characterized by extensive mangrove swamps. They are also home to
sandy beaches and river estuaries.
Deep coastal plains: These
areas consist of flat, fertile plains and are ideal for agriculture.
Rice, bananas and other agricultural products are grown here.
River regions: Most of the interior of Suriname is covered by dense
rainforests and numerous rivers. The rivers such as the Suriname River,
the Marowijne River and the Coppename River are important waterways and
often serve as transportation routes.
Rainforest: The Amazon
rainforest stretches across large parts of Suriname and makes up a
significant part of the country. This rainforest is rich in biodiversity
and is home to a variety of animal and plant species.
Savannas:
Some regions of the country, especially in the south, also have savanna
landscapes. These open grasslands are less densely vegetated than the
rainforest and provide habitat for animals such as tapirs and deer.
Mountain regions: Although Suriname is generally flat, there are
some hilly and mountainous areas in the south of the country, such as
the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Van Asch Van Wijck Mountains. These
regions are sparsely populated and offer opportunities for trekking and
adventure tourism.
Suriname is administratively divided into ten districts. The
Sipaliwini district in the south is larger than all other districts
combined and is administered directly from the capital, Paramaribo. The
population density there is only 0.3 inhabitants per km². The other
districts, with the exception of Para and Brokopondo (around the
artificially created Blommesteinsee), are concentrated on the coast.
The following division of the country should be relevant to tourism:
Coast - includes, from west to east, the districts of Nickerie,
Coronie, Saramacca, Wanica, Paramaribo (capital district), Commewijne
and Marowijne. The two districts of Wanica and Paramaribo are not only
the smallest, but also the most populous and therefore the most densely
populated districts in the country.
East - This includes the
districts of Para, Brokopondo and the extreme east of the Sipaliwini
district.
Wilhelmina Mountains - covers the southwest. At 1,280
meters, the Julianatop is the highest point in the country.
1 Albina . From here you can take a boat down the Marowijne to
Galibi. Boat trips up the river are also possible. Ferry connection to
the eastern neighbor Guyane Française.
2 Groningen . With just under
3000 inhabitants, this is the main town in the Saramacca district.
3
Lelydorp . The main town in the Wanica district is the second largest
town in the country with 19,000 inhabitants. The Neotropical Butterfly
Park is a popular destination for exploring the fascinating world of
butterflies.
4 Moengo . This used to be one of the centers for
bauxite mining. For several years now, attempts have been made to
establish the place as a center for contemporary art.
5 Nieuw
Nickerie . From here you can reach the car ferry to Guyana. Boat trips
up the border river Corantijn are possible.
6 Paramaribo . The
capital of Suriname is known for its well-preserved Dutch colonial
buildings, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Also worth seeing are
the charming alleys, the Central Market and the Fort Zeelandia Museum.
7 Paranam . An industrial town with a disused aluminum smelter with no
tourist attractions.
8 Totness . Central town of the so-called
coconut district of Coronie. Good stopover on the way from Paramaribo to
Nieuw Nickerie.
9 Wageningen . Centre of rice cultivation in the
Nickerie district. No tourist attractions.
1 Galibi . Nature reserve where sea turtles can be seen. Accessible
by boat from Albina. Accommodation options in Langamankondre and
Christiaankondre.
2 Brownsberg . This national park offers stunning
scenery with lush rainforest, waterfalls and panoramic views of the
Brokopondo Reservoir. There are hiking trails and viewpoints that allow
visitors to discover the rich flora and fauna. Unfortunately, gold
mining has caused severe destruction of nature.
3 Raleighvallen
Nature Reserve. is another notable nature reserve in Suriname. It is
home to a variety of animal species, including jaguars, monkeys and
macaws. Visitors can go on hikes to explore the pristine nature and
impressive rock formations.
4 Central Suriname Nature Reserve
(Centraal Suriname Natuurreservaat) . This huge nature reserve is one of
the largest protected areas in South America. It is known for its
pristine rainforests, rivers and waterfalls. It offers a unique
opportunity to experience the natural beauty and biodiversity of
Suriname. Its mountain and floodplain forests are home to more than
5,000 plant species, jaguars, giant armadillos, tapirs, sloths, eight
species of primates and 400 species of birds.
5 Jodensavanne . The
Jodensavanne was once a thriving Jewish settlement in the 17th century.
Today, ruins and a Jewish cemetery remain. It is a place of historical
importance and offers insight into Suriname's rich past.
All travelers need a passport valid for at
least six months. Possession of an onward or return ticket is mandatory.
Germans, Austrians, Swiss and Liechtensteiners no longer need a visa
for stays of up to 30 days (extendable to 90 days). For entry by plane,
a single-entry “tourist card” is now available online in advance for a
fee (2021: US$54). The processing time is given as 72 hours. Citizens
whose countries are not on the tourist card list require an electronic
visa.
Those arriving by land must also purchase their "Tourist Card"
in advance. This is no longer possible in Georgetown, here you can refer
to the online application.
Consulates in neighboring countries
are: For a long time there was no Surinamese representation in French
Guiana. In the meantime, if necessary, you can apply for an entry permit
at the consulate in Cayenne (3 Avenue Léopold Hédér, near the
intersection with Rue F. Arago; Mon-Fri 9am-2pm) or St. Laurent du
Maroni (6 Rue Victor Schoelcher). In Belém, Brazil, the consulate is at
Avenida Governador José Malcher 108, Bairro Nazaré.
All
non-tourist travelers need a visa, which can be obtained from the
consulate in Amsterdam (De Cuserstraat 11, 1081 CK Amsterdam, ☎ +31 20
6426137. If necessary, you can also contact the embassy in Brussels
(Franklin Rooseveltlaan 200, 1050 Brussels). Please note that the form
must be filled out online (note: the date must be separated by "/" as
the separator, otherwise an error message will appear.) EU citizens will
receive a visa in Amsterdam in one day, other nationalities will have to
wait at least two weeks.
For stays longer than one month,
registration with the Department for Alien Registration, Ministry of
Justice and Police; Mr. J. Lachmonstraat 166-168 (on the EG of the
Ministry of Public Works). Passport and onward flight must be
presented.'
duty-free amounts
200 cigarettes or 20 cigars or
500g of tobacco. 1 liter of liquor or 4 liters of wine or 8 liters of
beer. 50ml perfume. Import and export of local currency is limited to
150 SRD.
By plane
There are (relatively expensive) flights
with KLM or Suriname Airways several times a week from Amsterdam.
Suriname Airways flies in the region via Cayenne to Belem and via
Port of Spain to Curaçao. Miami is served with stopovers in either Aruba
or Georgetown. Caracas can also be reached with Caribbean Airlines.
Planes land at Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, formerly
called Zanderij International Airport. It is located 45 km south of
Paramaribo. From there you can take a taxi or bus into the city. The big
hotels usually organize a free shuttle service.
By train
There
are no long-distance trains in Suriname; only two disused routes, the z.
T. have already been recaptured by nature.
By bus
In the
street
There is the possibility to rent cars. Warning: left-hand
traffic! Foreigners must have an international driver's license or can
obtain a local one for SRD 150 (payable at the main post office in
Paramaribo, Kerkplein 1). Obtainable from the Driver's Licenses
Department, at Bureau Nieuwe Haven Police Station in Paramaribo.
By boat
If you don't arrive on a sailing yacht, you hardly have a
chance to get to Suriname by ship. From time to time cruise ships dock
in Paramaribo.
Traffic drives on the left in Suriname.
The official language is Dutch. In addition, the creole language Sranan Tongo is widespread, which contains Dutch, Portuguese and African elements. Most of the time you get along well with English.
Exchange rate (Nov 2021): 1 = 24.15 SRD. US dollars are preferred for cash exchanges.
The cuisine of Suriname is extremely diverse and reflects the
cultural diversity of the country. It is a melting pot of different
ethnic groups, including people of Indian, African, Javanese, Chinese
and Dutch origin. These diverse influences have led to the creation of a
unique culinary tradition. Surinamese cuisine is known for its spices
and flavors. The use of curry, cumin, ginger, garlic and other spices is
common and gives the dishes their characteristic flavor.
Roti:
Roti is one of the most famous and popular dishes in Suriname. It is a
type of flatbread that is often served with curries of different kinds
(chicken, beef, vegetable). The curries are often very spicy and made
with coconut milk.
Pom: Pom is a savory dish made from grated
roots and chicken or pork. It has a slightly sweet note and is usually
served with rice.
Nasi Goreng and Bami Goreng: These two dishes
are heavily influenced by Indonesian cuisine. Nasi goreng is fried rice
while bami goreng is fried noodles. They are often prepared with various
meats or vegetables and spices.
Saoto soup: This is a flavorful
chicken soup with rice, sprouts, egg and herbs. The soup has a unique
flavor and is very popular in Suriname.
Bara and moksi meti: Bara
are deep-fried dough balls made from pea flour that are often served
with moksi meti, a mixture of various meats such as chicken, beef and
pork. This combination is very popular in Surinamese street markets.
Pindasoep: This peanut soup is rich and hearty and is often prepared
with chicken, eggs and various vegetables.
Kouseband: These are
beans with flat, long pods that are often used as a side dish or in
curries in Suriname.
Sambal: Sambal is a spicy chili sauce or
paste that is often served as an accompaniment to many Surinamese
dishes.
Coconut: Coconut is used in many Surinamese dishes,
especially curries and soups, to add a creamy texture and mild coconut
flavor.
Pastries: There are a variety of delicious desserts and
pastries in Suriname, including cookies, cakes and sweets with exotic
flavors such as coconut, cardamom and cinnamon.
In Paramaribo there are restaurants, bars, night clubs and a surprising number of casinos. Some casinos are also likely to be used to launder money from drug trafficking.
Employment, including any short-term volunteering, requires a work visa.
Both when leaving Suriname and when entering Amsterdam, there are
sometimes very strict drug controls. You should plan enough time for
this and under no circumstances take parcels, parcels or gifts with you
that you do not know the contents of. As in many regions of the world,
the same applies here: Valuables should not be carried openly and you
should not carry more cash with you than is absolutely necessary. The
number of robberies has increased in recent years. Also, drinks are
occasionally mixed with narcotics. The threat of punishment for drug
offenses is rigorous.
Police presence outside of Paramaribo is
very low.
The usual precautions for tropical countries should be observed.
Dengue fever, malaria and yellow fever occur - especially in the
interior of the country. Insect repellent for skin and clothing is
advisable. Since Paramaribo is almost at sea level, the city is
criss-crossed by canals, so mosquitoes have to be reckoned with there
too. In any case, you should inquire about malaria prophylaxis before
you travel. Yellow fever vaccination is required for travel to/from
French Guyana. This disease also occurs in the country itself and in
Venezuela. Vaccination against hepatitis A is also recommended, and
vaccination protection against polio and tetanus should be refreshed if
necessary.
One should refrain from unprotected sexual contacts
because of possible AIDS or hepatitis infections.
The climate of Suriname is tropical-equatorial. A distinction is made on the coast between the small rainy season from December to February, which is followed by the small dry season in March and April, and the large rainy season from May to July, which is followed by the large dry season from August to December. The best travel time is between February and April. The downpours begin in May and are accompanied by heavy thunderstorms. Countless hordes of mosquitoes swarm the air, and the vegetation develops with the greatest rapidity and luxuriance, but the noxious vapors rising from the ground make this season the unhealthiest. By June the rains begin to subside and in August the pure, clear skies appear. The east winds rise, and sometimes the great dry season, especially, brings a harmful drought. The heat is moderated from 10 a.m. by sea winds, which increase towards evening and decrease again at night. At daybreak it is often noticeably cool.
Due to its colonial past, Suriname is multicultural. So it is important to respect Hindus, Muslims, Jews and Christians alike.
emergency calls
Police: ☎ 112 or 115 Ambulance: ☎ 113
The name "Suriname" derives from an Arawakan-speaking Taíno group called "Surine", who lived in the region before the arrival of Europeans. The country's name 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 Dutch Guiana, Dutch Guiana or Dutch 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 stress on the third syllable.
The history of Suriname covers the developments in the territory of the Republic of Suriname from prehistory to the present day. Its beginnings date back to 3000 BC, when the first Indians settled in the area. Today's Suriname was home to many different indigenous cultures. The largest tribes were the Arawak, a nomadic coastal people who lived from hunting and fishing, and the Caribs. The Arawak (Kali'na) were the first inhabitants of Suriname, the Caribs appeared later and subjugated the Arawak by taking advantage of their sailing ships. They settled in Galibi (Kupali Yumï, English "tree of the ancestors") at the mouth of the Marowijne River. While the larger tribes of the Arawak and Caribs lived on the coast and in the savannahs, there were also smaller groups in the dense tropical rainforest of the hinterland, such as the Akurio, Trió, Wayarekule, Warrau and Wayana.
Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover the coast in
1498, and in 1499 an expedition under the command of Amerigo Vespucci
and Alonso de Ojeda explored the coast in more detail. Vicente Yáñez
Pinzón explored the interior in 1500. Later, Dutch traders who visited
the area during a trip along South America's wild coasts came and were
the first to try to establish a settlement, including Abraham van Peere
in 1627 and Jacob Conijn in 1632. Further attempts to settle Suriname by
Europeans can be found in 1630, when English settlers under Captain
Marshall tried to establish a colony. They cultivated tobacco plants,
but the project failed.
In 1651, the second attempt to establish
an English settlement was made by Lord Francis Willoughby, the governor
of Barbados. The expedition was led by Anthony Rowse, who founded a
colony and called it 'Willoughbyland'. It consisted of about 500 sugar
cane plantations and a fort (Fort Willoughby). The colonists ruined the
existing nature and had the forests cut down. Most of the work was done
by the 2,000 African slaves, who also imported new mosquito plagues from
Africa. About 1,000 whites lived there, who were soon joined by other
Europeans and Brazilian Jews. On February 27, 1667, the settlement was
occupied by Dutchmen from Zeeland led by Abraham Crijnssen during the
Second Anglo-Dutch Naval War. After a short bombardment, Fort Willoughby
was captured under Governor William Byam and renamed Fort Zeelandia.
Crijnssen guaranteed the colony's settlers the same rights as under
English rule, such as the right to freedom of worship for the Jewish
settlers. He appointed Maurits de Rama, one of his captains, as governor
and left 150 soldiers behind to protect the newly conquered colony. On
July 31, 1667, the Peace of Breda was concluded, which, in addition to
the peace terms, awarded Guyana to the Dutch and New Amsterdam (now New
York City) to the English in return. Willoughbyland was subsequently
renamed Dutch Guiana; this arrangement became official with the Treaty
of Westminster in 1674, after the British reconquered and lost Suriname
in 1667 and the Dutch occupied New Amsterdam again in 1673. The Dutch
multiplied the number of slaves and treated them even worse than the
English before them.
In the first half of the 18th century,
agriculture flourished in Suriname, with coffee, cocoa, tobacco, sugar
and indigo being the main crops grown. Most of the work on the
plantations was done by about 60,000 African slaves, mainly from the
present-day states of Ghana, Benin, Angola and Togo, who were often
badly treated; many slaves therefore fled into the jungles, where they
formed communities organized like tribes. These Maroons (also known as
Bosnegers in Suriname) often returned to the colonized areas to raid
plantations. Famous leaders of the Maroons from Suriname were Alabi,
Boni and Broos (Captain Broos). They formed a kind of buffer between the
Europeans who settled on the coast and the main rivers and the not yet
subjugated indigenous peoples of the hinterland. A contemporary
description of this situation in Suriname can be found in John Gabriel
Stedman's story of a five-year punitive expedition against rebellious
blacks. On October 10, 1760, the colonial administration signed a first
peace treaty with escaped slaves from the Ndyuka tribe. Since 2011,
October 10 has been a national holiday as Dag des Marrons (Maroon Day).
In 1762, peace was concluded with the other large group of "weglopers"
(the runaways), the Saramaccans. The Maroons contributed greatly to the
abolition of slavery.
After France annexed the Netherlands in
1799, Guyana was occupied again by the British. At the Congress of
Vienna in 1815, it was decided that the English would keep what is now
Guyana and give Suriname back to the Dutch.
The Dutch were the last European nation to abolish slavery, in 1863.
The slaves were not freed until 1873; until then they carried out paid
but compulsory work on the plantations (the period of the so-called
ten-year state detention). During this time, many contract workers had
come from Asia, especially Chinese. After 1873, many Hindus were brought
to Suriname as workers from India; however, this emigration was stopped
in 1916 by Mohandas Gandhi. From that year onwards, many people again
came from the Dutch East Indies, especially from Java. Immigrants also
came to Dutch Guiana more or less regularly from China. Suriname thus
developed into a multi-ethnic state in which Creoles (37%) and people of
Indian (around 35%), Indonesian (14%) and Chinese origin lived together.
Even before the First World War, Suriname's natural resources such
as rubber, gold and bauxite were discovered. In 1916, the American
company Alcoa acquired the rights to a large area south of the capital
where bauxite was found. During the Second World War, the Dutch colony
was occupied by the United States on November 25, 1941, in coordination
with the Dutch government in exile, in order to protect the bauxite
mines, among other things.
On December 9, 1948, universal
suffrage was introduced; women were also entitled to vote. The number of
representatives increased to 21.
In 1954, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles gained limited
self-government through the Kingdom Statute; however, the Dutch
continued to manage defense and foreign affairs themselves.
In
1973, the local administration, led by the large Creole-Javanese
coalition (between NPS and KTPI), began negotiations on full
independence, which came into force on November 25, 1975. At
independence in 1975, women's right to vote and stand for election was
confirmed.
The Dutch set up an aid program worth 1.5 billion US
dollars, which was to run until 1985. The first president of the young
state was Johan Ferrier, the previous governor, and Henck A. E. Arron,
the leader of the NPS (National Party of Suriname), was appointed prime
minister. About a third of the population emigrated to the Netherlands,
fearing that the small state would not be able to survive. Many of the
emigrants were wealthy Indians who were worried that an economic decline
would set in after the Creoles took power, which later actually
happened.
On February 25, 1980, the Creole-dominated government of Henck Arron
was overthrown in a military coup led by Sergeant Major Desi Bouterse,
also known as the Sergeant's Coup, on suspicion of corruption. President
Ferrier refused to recognize the new rulers, namely the National
Military Council (NMR) led by Sergeant Badrissein Sital. Other members
of the NMR were Bouterse (on his way to becoming commander), Sergeant
Major Roy Horb, Sergeant Laurens Neede, Lieutenant Michel van Rey (the
only one with officer training) and three other non-commissioned
officers. The elections scheduled for March 27, 1980 were canceled and,
surprisingly, the largely politically inactive doctor Hendrick Chin A
Sen was appointed Prime Minister. After three council members, namely
chairman Badrissein Sital, Chas Mijnals and Stanley Joeman, were
disarmed and arrested on the initiative of Bouterse on the charge of
planning a counter-coup, a state of emergency was declared on 13 August
1980, the constitution was suspended and parliament was dissolved.
President Ferrier, who had been in power since 1975, was ousted by the
military, which then also fell to Chin A Sen. Another coup followed
later, in which the army replaced Ferrier with Chin A Sen. The
Militair-Gezag (military command), consisting of Bouterse and Horb, thus
officially penetrated the inner circles of power. On 4 February 1982,
Chin A Sen resigned due to differences with the NMR over economic and
political policy, and was replaced by the lawyer and politician Ramdat
Misier. These developments were largely welcomed by the population, who
expected the new army-backed government to end corruption and raise
living standards - although the government banned opposition parties and
became increasingly dictatorial over time. The Dutch initially accepted
the new government, but relations between Suriname and the Netherlands
collapsed when the army summarily executed 15 opposition members at Fort
Zeelandia on December 8, 1982, without any form of trial. These events
are also known as the "December Murders" (Decembermoorden in Dutch). The
Dutch and Americans stopped sending aid in protest, leading Bouterse to
look to countries such as Grenada, Nicaragua, Cuba and Libya for help.
On November 25, 1985, the tenth anniversary of independence, the ban
on opposition parties was lifted and work began on drafting a new
constitution. However, this process was severely hampered the following
year when a kind of guerrilla war by the Maroons against the government
began. The guerrillas from the interior called themselves the Jungle
Commando and were led by Ronnie Brunswijk, a former bodyguard of
Bouterse. The government troops under Bouterse himself tried to suppress
the rebellion violently by setting fire to villages, as happened in
Moiwana on November 29, 1986, when Brunswijk's house was burned down and
at least 35 people died, mostly women and children. Many Maroons fled to
French Guiana. The war was generally very brutal, for example the town
of Albina was almost completely destroyed; in total almost 1,000 people
died.
According to Ronald Reagan's diaries (The Reagan Diaries),
published in May 2007, the Dutch government had been considering
military intervention in Suriname in 1986, following the Moiwana
massacre. The Hague wanted to overthrow the military regime of Desi
Bouterse. To this end, The Hague requested assistance from the United
States to transport 700 Dutch soldiers from the Marine Corps. The United
States considered the request for assistance, but before a decision was
made, the Dutch government withdrew its request.
Elections were held in November 1987 following the introduction of
the new constitution, in which the three-party anti-Bouterse coalition
Front for Democracy and Development won 40 of 51 seats; Dutch aid was
resumed the following year. However, tensions soon developed between
Bouterse and President Ramsewak Shankar. Shankar was subsequently ousted
on 24 December 1990 in a coup known as the telephone coup and led by
Bouterse. A military-backed regime was installed, with Johan Kraag of
the NPS as president.
Elections were held again on 25 May 1991.
Ronald Venetiaan's Nieuw Front, a new coalition (the three coalition
parties of the old front combined with the Surinamese Labor Party) won
30 seats, Bouterse's NDP won 12 and the Democratisch Alternatief '91 (a
multi-ethnic party advocating closer ties with the Netherlands) won 9.
Thirty seats were not enough to provide a president; so a parliamentary
election was organized, which Venetiaan won. In August 1992, a treaty
signed with the Jungle Commando brought peace, the same year the NMR was
dissolved.
Meanwhile, the Suriname economy was facing serious
difficulties, caused by a fall in aluminum prices on the world market,
acts of sabotage by rebels, the cessation of development aid and large
deficits. A Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) was initiated in 1992,
followed by the Multi-Year Development Program in 1994. Despite an
import restriction, the situation did not improve significantly. This
fact, and a series of corruption scandals, led to a significant downturn
in the popularity of Venetiaan's New Front.
Nevertheless, the
Nieuw Front won the elections held on 23 May 1996, albeit only by a
small majority. As in 1991, this was not enough to make Venetiaan
president. Many Nieuw Front members switched to the NDP and other
parties. The secret ballot that followed secured the presidency for
Jules Wijdenbosch, a former vice president in the Bouterse era, who set
about forging a coalition of the NDP and five other parties. Bouterse
was accommodated in 1997 when the post of Chancellor of State was
created for him. Wijdenbosch released him in April 1999. Meanwhile, the
Dutch judiciary sentenced Bouterse in absentia to several years in
prison for illegal drug trafficking. His son, Dino Bouterse, was
convicted on a similar charge in 2005.
The government's failure to improve economic problems led to
widespread strikes in 1999, during which strikers demanded early
elections. This resulted in the collapse of Wijdenbosch's coalition, and
he lost a vote of confidence in June 1999. Elections, scheduled for
2001, were brought forward to May 25, 2000. Support for Wijdenbosch fell
to 9% of the vote, while Venetiaan won 47%. Relations with the
Netherlands improved when Venetiaan took office. Meanwhile, relations
between Suriname and Guyana deteriorated over a dispute over the
countries' maritime borders. It is believed that the area may be rich in
oil.
In August 2001, the Dutch allowed Suriname to take out a
ten-year loan of 137.7 million euros from the Netherlands Development
Bank (NTO). $32 million of the loan was used to pay off foreign loans
taken out under unfavorable conditions during Wijdenbosch's term. The
remaining $93 million was used to repay debts to the Central Bank of
Suriname, which in turn enabled it to strengthen its international
position. To further help the economy, the guilder was replaced by the
Surinamese dollar in 2004.
Venetiaan won again in the May 2005
elections. However, in the 2010 elections, when Desi Bouterse was
elected as the new president of Suriname by parliament on July 19, it
became clear that some of the old military still had influence on the
country's politics and daily life. The non-profit, non-governmental
organization Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS) called Suriname a
"criminal state" in a report published in March 2017.
Suriname, the smallest country in South America, is located on the
Guyana shield, the highest point is: Juliana Top (1286 m above sea
level), located in Sipaliwini. It has an area of 163,820 km², which in
terms of extension is similar to Tunisia or the American peninsula of
Florida. This figure does not include the disputed sectors that are
controlled by Guyana (Tigri region of 15,603 km²) and by France
(Marowijne-Litani area of 3,439 km²).
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, with land characterized by sand and mud banks
resulting from the characteristics of the waters of the Amazon River,
which are deposited in this area due to equatorial currents. The second
is the interior, which consists mainly of the Sipaliwini and Brokopondo
regions. It is sparsely populated and is characterised by dense tropical
forests.
Climate
Due to its proximity to the equator, Suriname's climate is equatorial, subequatorial and tropical. Temperatures do not vary much throughout the year, which has two seasons, dry and rainy. The heaviest rains occur between April and September, but 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.
Climate change in Suriname refers to the effects of climate change on
Suriname. These effects include rising temperatures and an increase in
more extreme weather events. As a relatively poor country, its
contributions to climate change have been limited. Furthermore, due to
the large forest cover, the country has had a carbon-negative economy
since 2014.
Suriname was the second country to update its
Nationally Determined Contribution in 2020.
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 energy needed for the extraction of the
mining reserves of aluminum and bauxite, mainly in the town of Zanderij.
The dam was built in the 1960s.
The following are the main rivers
in the country: Suriname, Corentin, Coppename, Maroni, Nickerie,
Saramacca, Tapanahony and Paloemeu. All of them flow into the Atlantic
Ocean.
The geology of Suriname can be divided into four zones: ninety
percent of the continental territory is formed by the Guiana Shield.
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 conducted 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 from Voltz's letters for the first time. Until
about 1900, interest was mainly focused on gold. Until the twentieth
century, interest in the country's geology tended to be more or less
local and incidental in character. In 1931, Robert IJzerman compiled all
the geological research from 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.
Knowledge of the geology of the Surinamese coastal plain continued to
increase during the twentieth 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 clays and sands
occur, with or without shell fragments, and the older continental
alluvium, consisting largely of coarse white sands, sometimes containing
humus. The fluvio-marine deposits extend in a belt immediately along the
coast and the continental alluvium comes to the surface in a belt behind
them, wedging against the rocks of the Guiana Shield.
The
geologist Jan Zonneveld, who worked at the Central Office of Aerial
Mapping in Paramaribo around 1950, was of the opinion, after studying
the water level profiles, field research and the interpretation of
aerial photographs, that not two but three elements should be
distinguished on the surface, i.e. from north to south:
The young
coastal plain, which lies just above sea level. Mara and Coronie
Formations, age: Holocene, 16,200 km²
The old coastal plain, which
lies at a slightly higher level. Coropina Formation, age: Pleistocene,
4,300 km²
The Savannah Belt or Sand Belt: a slightly undulating
plain, bordered in the south by hill country. Sandstone Formation, age:
Pliocene, 8,750 km².
The geological history of Suriname began again 230 million years ago
in the Triassic period – after a long pause of 860 million years – with
the break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea. Traces of this break-up can
also be found in the mountainous area of Eastern Suriname in the form
of Jurassic-era apatoedolerite, which broke through on active fault
lines. Until then, Florida was located north of Suriname, in the stretch
of ocean that now forms the Guiana-Suriname ocean basin. A hot spot
developed at the level of the Demerara Plateau and the Guinea Plateau,
Pangaea broke up and Florida moved north and west, creating the Bahamas.
During the Cretaceous, Africa separated from South America, and near
Suriname the Demerara Plateau separated from the Guinea Plateau. Deeper
subsurface offshore, Triassic volcanic rocks have been found in fault
zones, capped by Jurassic-age sediments, and in the limestone deposits
above them, Apache Oil drilled for oil in 2020 in offshore Block 58.
Suriname is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and shares
510 km of borders with French Guiana to the east, 597 km with Brazil to
the south and 600 km with Guyana to the west.
However, the
country's land borders remain uncertain, mainly in the south of the
country where territorial disputes occur 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 according to the rules
set out in Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea on 20 September 2007.
In 1860, the question of which of the
two tributary rivers of the Marowijne River (also called Maroni and
Marowini) was the headwaters and therefore the border was raised from
the French side. A joint Franco-Dutch commission was appointed to
examine the question. The Dutch part of the commission consisted of J.H.
Baron van Heerdt tot Eversberg, J.F.A. Cateau van Rosevelt and August
Kappler. The French part was composed of Luits Vidal, Ronmy, Boudet and
Dr. Rech. Measurements were made in 1861 which gave the following
result: the Lawa had a flow of 35,960 m³/minute with a width of 436 m;
the Tapanahony had a flow of 20,291 m³/minute with a width of 285 m. The
Lawa River was therefore the headwaters of the Maroni River.
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 29 November 1888, France and the Netherlands reached
an agreement to submit the dispute to arbitration. Tsar Alexander III of
Russia, acting as arbitrator, decided that the Lawa was the headwaters
of the Maroni, and should therefore be considered the border. The
Netherlands and France concluded a border treaty on this stretch of the
river on 30 September 1915.
However, this decision created
another problem as to which river is the source of the Lawa, a question
that remains unresolved.
Robert Schomburgk himself set the
borders of British Guiana in 1840. Taking the Corentin River as the
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 Corentin, which is the source of the
Corentin. Thus the New River Triangle dispute was born.
The
tribunal that dealt with the Venezuelan Crisis of 1895 (Essequibo
Guiana) also 'illegally' awarded the New River Triangle to British
Guiana. However, the Netherlands raised a diplomatic protest, arguing
that the New River, and not the Kutari, should be regarded as the source
of the Corentín and the boundary. The British government responded in
1900 that the issue was already settled by the long-standing acceptance
of the Kutari as a boundary. Both Venezuela and Suriname do not
recognise the boundaries established by that award.
The biodiversity of Suriname is great. The diversity of life forms is
mainly due to differences in landscape type and temperature. Suriname is
divided into four ecological zones:
the young coastal plain,
the
old coastal plain,
the savannah or sand belt, and,
the perennial
inland highlands.
New life forms continue to be discovered in
Suriname. According to Ottema, the thick-billed cracker or twatwa is an
endangered species. The great macaw and the musk duck or wood duck have
seriously declined in numbers.
The Guiana woodpecker is likely to
be an endemic species of Suriname, as the species is not known with
certainty from the neighbouring Guianas.
The Nature Protection
Act of 1954 and the Hunting Act of 1954 form the basis for nature
protection in Suriname. The Hunting Decree of 2002 elaborates on the
Hunting Act 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 under the law.
The coastal plain is largely desolate and inaccessible and consists
of mud banks, sandy beaches, bird-rich mangrove forests and lagoons. The
mud banks are created by the Guiana River which carries mud that is
deposited in various places along the coast. The mud banks are home to
crabs, worms and small crustaceans. Birds, such as the North American
waders, use the mud banks as a feeding area during migration periods.
The mud banks are home to mangrove forests, better known as parwa
forests.
Mangrove forests are known for a multitude of functions.
One of these is the protection of the coast and its banks from damage
caused by flooding. Other functions include nursery, filter, and
production of wood, food and honey. Another income-generating function
is ecotourism. Young parwa forests are used as nesting and resting
places by the red ibis (Eudocimus ruber) and several species of herons.
The sandy beaches are used as breeding grounds by four species of
turtles. These turtles are:
Aitkanti or leatherback (Dermochelys
coriacea)
The mute turtle (Chelonia mydas)
Warana (Lepidochelys
olivacea)
Karet (Eretmochelys imbricada).
The savannas of Suriname are home to a large number of plant species. Based on their vegetation, the savannas can be classified into shrub and herbaceous savannas and wooded savannas. The savanna forest is distinguished by taller and denser vegetation. Depending on the soil conditions, savannas are classified as clay, brown sand, white sand and rock. Plant species found in savannas include lemkiwisi (Cassaytha filiformis), sundew (Drosera sp.), savannah-fungus (Licaniai acana) and camphor plant (Unixia camphorata). Animals found in savannas include turtles (Chelonodis sp.), snakes, iguanas (Iguana iguana), deer (Mazama sp.) and kapasi (Dasypus sp.).
In the interior of Suriname there 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. Suriname is made up of more than 90% virgin rainforest and is home to a rich flora and fauna.
Suriname's coastal waters, like the coastal area of Guyana, French Guiana and northeastern Brazil, are part of the Guyana ecoregion. Suriname's marine fish, crustaceans (shrimp and crabs) and shellfish (snails and bivalves) are known to a certain extent. However, other groups of marine animals have hardly 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), with its light pink belly, is a notable sight. Suriname has approximately 61 endemic freshwater fishes. Many of these endemic species are catfish. The freshwater fish fauna of Suriname is still poorly known.
On 27 June 1950, the then Governor J. Klaasesz submitted two bills to
the States of Suriname (Parliament) for approval. These bills were the
Hunting Act 1954 and the Nature Conservation Act 1954.
-The
Hunting Act 1954: The aim of the Hunting Act was to legally regulate
hunting, which in 1954 was still being practised 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 Act prohibits certain actions with respect to protected animals,
such as capturing, killing, attempting to capture or killing. Protected
animals include all mammals, birds and sea turtles and other animals as
specified, which belong to a species living in the wild in Suriname.
Exceptions are hunting, caged animals and harmful animals.
The
Ministry of Land Use and Forest Management defines in more detail what
is meant by the above categories. Hunting of these animals is permitted
under certain conditions. The Hunting Act of 1954 is valid for the whole
of Suriname. However, in the south of the country there are no closed
seasons. A "limit" has been set for a number of animal species, but the
law does not apply to the whole country.
-The Nature Conservation
Act of 1954: On the basis of this law, the president can designate land
and water as a nature reserve. The area must have a varied natural and
scenic beauty and/or flora, fauna and geological objects of scientific
or cultural importance. It is prohibited, among other things, to damage
the soil, natural beauty, fauna, flora in a nature reserve,
intentionally or through negligence, or to take actions that are
detrimental to the value of the reserve. Camping, making fires, chopping
wood or burning charcoal, hunting, fishing and taking a dog, firearm or
any hunting or trapping equipment into a nature reserve without a permit
from the Head of the National Forest Service are also prohibited.
In 1954, it seemed premature to set aside areas in unpopulated
Suriname for the protection and conservation of flora, fauna and
geological objects. However, at the time it was considered of great
importance to initiate this reserve, as valuable areas could be
preserved for the purposes of protection and conservation of flora,
fauna and geological objects. According to Dominiek Plouvier, former
director of WWF-Guianas, the Nature Conservation Act was drafted at a
time when the government was imposing protection, without involving the
local population.
In 2023, 66 percent of Suriname's inhabitants lived in cities. Apart from the capital Paramaribo, only the border towns of Albina and Nieuw-Nickerie as well as Lelydorp are of some importance.
Due to the mix of population groups, the culture of Suriname is very diverse. The predominant culture is a mix of Dutch, Indonesian and indigenous elements.
Suriname has two monuments inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage
List. The Central Suriname Nature Reserve was added as a natural
heritage site in 2000. It is the largest nature reserve in Suriname and
one of the largest protected tropical forests in the world. Since 2002,
the historic centre of Paramaribo with its numerous monumental wooden
buildings has also been listed as a cultural heritage site. In addition,
Jodensavanne has been on the UNESCO provisional list of World Heritage
sites since 1999.
Other places of interest include the museum at
Fort Zeelandia, which is part of the historic centre 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 designed in
particular by the architect Peter Nagel, who was active in Suriname in
the decades after World War II. Most other cultural facilities and
attractions are concentrated in the capital, including the Paramaribo
Zoo.
Most Surinamese literature is written in Dutch or Sranan (Tonga), although since 1977 there has also been a significant increase in literature in Sarnami. Written texts in the other languages are rarer, but a lively oral tradition still exists in almost all of them.
Due to competition from television, videotapes and DVDs, there were
no regular cinemas until June 2010. At one time, there were several:
Bellevue, Luxor, Tower, Star, Metro, Empire, The Paarl, Jasodra and
others. The Paarl was converted into a leisure centre with two cinemas
in 2019. Films are shown there throughout the week. There is also a sex
cinema and a few cinemas where a film festival is held several times a
year.
One of the major organisers, The Back Lot, has been
organising 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 Feature Film Festival (IFFR Flies
Paramaribo). In 2007, this took place from 19 to 29 April in various
theatres, such as the Thalia, the Stadszending and the CCS. Feature
films from all over the world were shown. The audience was of various
ages. This was taken into account in the selection of the films.
In March 2008, the De Paarl Movies cinema was opened, and in June 2010,
the TBL Cinemas multiplex. The latter has five modern cinema screens.
Radio stations: 34 FM stations, 4 AM stations 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 programmes: ABC News, In
de Branding, Bakana Tori Original (BTO); Informed Circuits; 90 Seconds;
In My Opinion; The Sunday Talkshow; Towards a Better Suriname; Time for
Lovers; Bungu-Bungu-Carrousel
Television channels: 23, plus 7
repeaters. Various programmes of the Dutch public broadcaster NPO are
broadcast via Surinamese channels. For an overview of the channels, see
the list of television channels in Suriname.
Some TV 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:
The country is best 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) used during slavery to
designate a very fast dance. Kaseko is a fusion of numerous popular and
demosophic styles from Europe, Africa and the Americas. 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 the trombone.
It may 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 kawina.
Kaseko evolved in the
1930s during festivities that used large bands, especially wind bands,
and were called Bigi Poku (big drum music). During World War II, jazz,
calypso and other styles became popular, while rock music from the
United States soon left its own influence in the form of electric
instruments.
Festivals and Events
Due to its multicultural
heritage, Suriname celebrates various ethnic and religious festivals.
Several festivals are unique and only celebrated in Suriname. These are
the Hindu, Javanese and Chinese immigration festivals. They celebrate
the arrival of the first ships with their respective immigrants. In
addition, there are several Hindu and Muslim festivals, such as Divali
and Phagwa, and Suikerfeest and Sacrificefeest respectively. These
festivals do not have specific fixed days in the Gregorian calendar:
they are based on the Hindu and Islamic calendars, respectively.
Fireworks may 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, theatre and dance, and visual arts.
Attendance rose from a few thousand on the weekend in 2013 to over
twenty thousand in 2018.
Official national holidays:
1 January
- New Year's Day
1 March (variable) - Holi-Phagwa
1 May - Labour
Day
5 June - Indian Immigration
1 July - Ketikoti
9 August -
Day of Indigenous and Javanese Immigration
10 October - Maroon Day
25 November - Independence Day
25 December - Christmas Day
26
December - Boxing Day
Surinamese cuisine is very broad, as the Surinamese population is of
almost all origin. Surinamese cuisine is therefore a combination of a
large number of international cuisines, including Hindustani (India),
African, Javanese (Indonesia), Chinese, Dutch, Jewish, Portuguese and
indigenous. This has resulted in Surinamese cuisine having many dishes
in which different population groups have begun to use and influence
each other's dishes and ingredients (fusion), from which new Surinamese
dishes have emerged. The most famous Surinamese dishes are roti, nasi
goreng, bami, pom, snesi foroe, moksimeti and losi foroe. This mixture
of cultures with Surinamese has given rise to the unique Surinamese
cuisine.
Various products are frequently used in Surinamese
cuisine. The staple foods are rice, local fruits such as tayer and
cassava (Creole) and roti (Hindustani). Salted meat and bakkelauw are
frequently used as condiments. Long beans, okra and boulanger are
examples of vegetables in Surinamese cuisine. To give dishes a spicy
flavour, fresh chillies such as the very hot Madame Jeanette are used.
Parbo beer, with its typical 1-litre djogo bottles, is the largest
beer brand in Suriname. Other alcoholic drinks include rum, of which
Mariënburg rum, from the former sugar plantation of the same name, is
very well known. More information on rum production can be found at the
Surinaamsch Rumhuis museum. Kasiri, or "cassava beer", is a light
alcoholic drink made from cassava by indigenous people. The most widely
consumed non-alcoholic drinks and syrups are orgeade, made from almonds,
and dawet, made from coconut and rice flour.
The most outstanding athlete in Suriname's history is swimmer Anthony
Nesty, Olympic champion in the 100m butterfly at the Seoul Games in 1988
and bronze in this same event at Barcelona in 1992. These are the only
Olympic medals won by this country. Swimmer Ranomi Kromowidjojo, despite
being of Surinamese origin, competes for the Netherlands.
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), although the country is geographically located in South
America. Its national football team is ranked 136th in the FIFA rankings
as of October 2024.
Most of the 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, such as Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Jimmy
Floyd Hasselbaink and Aron Winter, were born in Suriname and have played
or played for European clubs. As Dutch nationals, they have also played
for the Netherlands.
K-1 champion wrestlers Ernesto Hoost and
Remy Bonjasky were born in Suriname, as were their colleagues Rayen
Simson, Melvin Manhoef, Tyrone Spong, Andy Ristie, Jairzinho
Rozenstruik, Regian Eersel and Donovan Wisse. Basketball players
Francisco Elson, Worthy de Jong and Charlon Kloof are also of Surinamese
origin.
Dutch athlete Nelli Cooman, a sprint specialist and
multiple world indoor champion in the 60m, was born in Paramaribo.
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. The population density at the national level is low,
at 3 inhabitants/km², but in the capital, it rises to 1,334
inhabitants/km².
The population of Suriname is made up of many
groups. Of these, the largest is the Hindustani (Hindustani), formed by
immigrants who arrived in the 19th century from India, and which
constitutes about 27% of the population. The "cimarron" (descendants of
African slaves) represent 21%, while the mulatto, a mixture of whites
and blacks, and the Javanese (descendants of indentured workers from the
former Dutch East Indies) account for 16 and 14% respectively. The rest
are made up of mixed race people, Amerindians, Chinese and whites.
Due to the large number of ethnic groups in the country, there is no
major or predominant religion. According to the most recent data, 48.4%
of the population belongs to the Christian religion, including
Catholics, and there are also other Protestant groups such as Moravians,
Evangelicals, Methodists, Lutherans and others. There is also 22.3% of
Hindus, 13.9% of Muslims; finally, the remaining 15.4% is made up 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 Paramaribo and its surroundings or in the coastal
area. There is a significant Surinamese population (approximately
350,000) residing in the Netherlands.
Suriname had an estimated 623,000 inhabitants in 2023. Annual
population growth was + 0.8%. A surplus of births (birth rate: 18.0 per
1,000 inhabitants vs. death rate: 8.6 per 1,000 inhabitants) contributed
to population growth. The statistical number of births per woman in 2022
was 2.3, compared to 1.8 in the Latin America and Caribbean region. The
life expectancy of Suriname's inhabitants from birth was 70.3 years in
2022. The median age of the population in 2021 was 27.9 years. In 2023,
26.0 percent of the population was under 15 years of age, while the
proportion of people over 64 was 7.6 percent of the population.
A
large number of Suriname's inhabitants have emigrated. In 2015,
according to the UN, 237,000 people born in the country lived abroad
(most of them in the Netherlands), which corresponded to an emigration
rate of 30.4% of the population.
The majority of the population lives in the towns and villages of the
coastal plain, 241,000 of them in the capital Paramaribo. The ethnic
origins of the population are very heterogeneous, which is also
reflected in religious affiliation and native languages. According to
the results of the 8th census in 2012, the population consists of
541,638 people:
37.4% (202,500 people) of African origin - who are
divided into two groups:
21.7% (117,567 people) belong to the group
of Surinamese Maroons, Dutch Marrons. They are descendants of slaves who
fled before 1863. The Surinamese rainforest offered them a hiding place,
and tribal associations were formed in which many elements of West
African culture, language and religion can still be found today. The two
largest groups are the Ndyuka and Saramaccans,
15.7% (84,933 people)
describe themselves as Creoles, descendants of former slaves abducted
from Africa who did not flee into the interior of the country. After the
abolition of slavery in 1863 and the expiry of the ten-year labor
obligation that followed, they settled on the plantations and especially
in the capital Paramaribo, where they partially mixed with other
population groups:
27.4% (148,443 people) of Indian origin - the
so-called Hindustans,
13.7% (73,975 people) are Javanese,
13.4%
(72,340 people) are part of the mixed group,
7.6% (40,985 people) are
part of other groups, such as Chinese, Arabs (Syrian Christians,
Palestinians and Lebanese), Europeans and indigenous people,
0.6%
(3,395 people) unknown.
The official language is Dutch. Since 2005, Suriname has been a
member of the Nederlandse Taalunie ("Dutch Language Union"). More than
500 words from Surinamese-Dutch usage were included in the latest
version (2005) of the dictionary, the "Green Booklet" (Groene Boekje).
According to a language study commissioned in connection with the entry
into the language union, Dutch is the mother tongue of 60% of Surinamese
people. It is used in administration, parliament, education, commerce,
the media and in everyday life, including as a written language. The
census of August 2004 found that Dutch is the everyday language in 46.6%
of households in Suriname; in the capital Paramaribo, the figure is even
higher at 66.4%.
In addition to Dutch, the creole language
Sranantongo (formerly pejoratively called Taki-Taki), which is spoken by
almost the entire population as a first or second language, the mother
tongues of the various population groups and English are particularly
widespread. Sranantongo, or Sranan for short, was originally the
language of the Creoles, but is now also the lingua franca on the
streets. Other colloquial languages are a compensatory dialect similar
to Hindi, Sarnami Hindi, Javanese, the creole languages of the
Marrons, such as Saramaccaans and Aukaans, various indigenous languages,
southern dialects of Chinese, the Syrian dialect of Arabic and
Portuguese of the Sephardic Jews. In recent years, Brazilian Portuguese
has also been added by the numerous Brazilian gold prospectors
(garimpeiros), most of whom have immigrated illegally.
The pidgin
language Ndyuka-Trio Pidgin (not to be confused with Ndyuka, which is a
form of Aukaans and is often used synonymously) is now largely out of
use. A total of 17 different languages and idioms are spoken in
Suriname.
Information by religious affiliation (result of the 8th census in
2012):
48.4% Christians
22.3% Hindus
13.9% Muslims
12.3%
other or no religious affiliation
3.2% unknown
Suriname is
home to a wide diversity of faiths and ethnic groups. Its constitution
provides for freedom of religion. The majority of its population is
Christian.
According to the 2020 census (the most recent census
conducted in the country), 52.3% of Surinamese were Christian; 26.7%
were of various Protestant denominations (11.18% Pentecostal, 11.16%
Moravian, 0.7% Reformed (including Remonstrant), and 4.4% other
Protestant denominations), while 21.6% were of the Catholic Church.
Hindus are the second largest religious group in Suriname, with almost a
fifth of the population (18.8% in 2020), the third largest proportion of
all countries in the Western Hemisphere, after Guyana and Trinidad and
Tobago, both also with large proportions of Indians. Nearly all
practitioners of Hinduism are found among the Indo-Surinamese
population.
Muslims make up 14.3% of the population, the largest
proportion of Muslims in the Americas; they are mostly of Javanese or
Indian descent. Folk religions are practiced by 5.6% of the population
and include Winti, an African-American religion practiced primarily by
those of Maroon descent; Javanism (0.8%), a syncretic faith found among
some Javanese Surinamese; and various indigenous folk traditions that
are often incorporated into one of the larger religions (usually
Christianity). In the 2020 census, 6.2% of the population reported
having "no religion", while another 1.9% adhere to "other religions".
Christianity
Christianity came with the arrival of the ICAR
"Dutch Reformed Church" of Calvinist confession and would later come
under the control of the Anglican Church.
Protestantism
The
latest statistical estimates from the Pew Research Center indicate that
the various branches of Protestantism regained importance after several
years with 25.4%. The reformed tradition is well framed in the history
of the country.
Catholicism
The 2020 census indicates that
117,261 Catholics live in Suriname, making the Catholic Church the
largest religious confession 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 the Surinamese of Java (5%) and Hindus (2%), there are relatively
few Catholics.
Hinduism
Hinduism, which originated in the
Indian subcontinent, was introduced to Suriname in the late 19th century
by indentured labourers from the then British East Indies. The religion
in its various groups or streams 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
festival Holi-Phagwa became a public holiday.
The most important
organisation of the Surinamese Arya Samaj is the Arya Dewaker ("Aryan
Sun") association, which runs the large Hindu temple in Paramaribo. The
sanctuary attracts visitors of various faiths and non-Hindus.
Islam
Islam came to Suriname after the abolition of slavery with the
arrival of indentured labourers 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 Indonesia (Java).
Of the countries
in South America, 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 confession: 53%.
When asked, 28% call themselves Sunni Muslims and 19% follow the
Ahmadiyya.
Among Javanese Surinamese, Islam is the most important
religion, while among Indian Surinamese (''Hindus'') it is the second.
In 1876, compulsory education was introduced in Suriname and has not
changed since. At first, teachers could not make ends meet with what
they earned, so they often had side jobs: surgeon, shoemaker, painter.
However, many incompetents were allowed to open schools. In the early
days, there was no formal training for teachers in either the
Netherlands or Suriname.
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 lacking. 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 at school had a religious purpose
and teaching was mainly religious.
In the Netherlands, including
Suriname, school fees had to be paid when the colonial government began
to supervise 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 pupils increased
more and more.
As early as the 18th century, wealthy parents sent
their children to the Netherlands and this would always remain the case.
Johannes Vrolijk was the first coloured teacher. Upon his return from
studying in the Netherlands, he opened his own school and this changed
and improved education in Suriname at the beginning of the 19th century.
The laws of 1817 and 1834 brought about a great improvement in
education in Suriname. In 1834 clear regulations were drawn up for
education in Suriname, what teachers had to follow, how supervision was
carried out, how examinations were to be conducted and so on. There was
also a grading system for teachers. In a school, at least one teacher or
teacher's assistant had to be of the lowest rank (the fourth rank). The
grading system had four grades.
Today education is compulsory for
children between the ages of 7 and 12, and 93% of the total population
is literate. Education in Suriname is divided into primary, secondary
and tertiary:
Primary education is 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.
VOJ and VOS belong to secondary
education: i.e. Junior Secondary Education and Senior Secondary
Education.
Tertiary education is higher education, which
includes: all post-secondary level courses for which admission requires
at least a VOS level diploma or its equivalent. ADEKUS, IOL, LOBO, PTC
and AHKCO are institutions under the MINOV.
Suriname has one
university called Anton de Kom University, founded in 1966 and located
in the capital, Paramaribo.
The fertility rate was 2.6 births per woman in 2004. Public debt was
3.6% of GDP in 2004, while private debt was 4.2%. There were 45 doctors
per 100,000 inhabitants in the early 2000s. Infant mortality was 30 per
1,000 births. Life expectancy for men at birth was 66.4 years, while
life expectancy for women was 73 years at birth.
There are five
major 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
(the Nickerie Lachmipersad Mungra Regional Hospital). The problems with
healthcare are largely due to a lack of government funding, the
emigration of doctors and nurses (brain drain) and poor transport and
infrastructure. Inland, care is provided in so-called mission posts.
The Suriname Psychiatric Centre provides mental health care.
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 centre of Paramaribo, which has been
inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2002.
On 29
September 1894, the first Sisters of Charity of Our Lady, Mother of
Mercy, also known as the Sisters of Charity, arrived in Suriname with
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 9 January
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 19 July 1916 (St. Vincent's feast day), after
which the hospital was inaugurated when there was still no electricity
or running water. However, it was a modern and hygienic building. The
first medical director was Johan Frederik Nassy (1866-1947), who held
the position until 1938. In 1956, the hospital was expanded to include
an outpatient clinic.
In 1956, St. Vincent's Hospital was
expanded to include an outpatient clinic, which was funded by
Welbaartsfonds.
The choice to become a Surinamese or Dutch citizen in the years
leading up to Suriname's independence in 1975 led to mass migration to
the Netherlands. This migration continued in the immediate
post-independence period and during military rule in the 1980s, and for
mainly economic reasons extended throughout the 1990s. The Surinamese
community in the Netherlands numbered 350,300 in 2013 (including
children and grandchildren of Surinamese migrants born in the
Netherlands); this compares with approximately 566,000 Surinamese in the
Netherlands itself.
According to the International Organization
for Migration, some 272,600 Surinamese were living in other countries at
the end of the 2010s, including in the Netherlands (around 192,000),
France (around 25,000, most of them in French Guiana), the United States
(around 15,000), Guyana (around 5,000), Aruba (around 1,500) and Canada
(around 1,000).
The Republic of Suriname is a representative democratic republic,
based on the 1987 Constitution. The country is composed 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.
The ressorten are the lowest
administrative level. At the same time as the elections to the National
Assembly, members of the district councils are elected according to the
so-called first-past-the-post system. In this system, voters have as
many votes as there are seats to be allocated, and candidates are
elected in order of the total number of votes obtained. The district
councils have limited executive powers and mainly play a signalling role
to the government of Paramaribo.
The districts have slightly more
executive powers and have a separate executive board, consisting of a
government-appointed district commissioner and deputies. District
council seats are distributed proportionally between the parties based
on the total distribution of seats in the district councils.
Legislative power is held by the National Assembly, a unicameral
parliament of 51 members elected every five years by the people of
Suriname in general, free and secret elections. Since the 2020
elections, Marinus Bee is the President of the Assembly and Dew Sharman
the Vice-President.
In the elections held on Tuesday, 25 May
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 formation, went to the "A-combinatie" and the
Volksalliantie. The parties held negotiations to form coalitions.
Elections were held on 25 May 2015, and the National Assembly re-elected
Desire Bouterse as 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, on Independence Square in
Paramaribo. The building was occupied after a fire completely destroyed
the old National Assembly building on 1 August 1996.
In addition
to the National Assembly, Suriname has the United People's Assembly
(Verenigde Volksvergadering), in which the National Assembly, district
councils and resort councils meet if two-thirds of the Assembly so
wishes and also in a number of special cases.
The President of Suriname is elected for a five-year term by a
two-thirds majority of the National Assembly. If at least two-thirds of
the National Assembly fail to agree to vote for a presidential
candidate, a People's 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 national election. The
president can be elected by a majority of the People's 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 People's Assembly. There is no
constitutional provision for the dismissal or replacement of the
president, except in the event of resignation.
The judiciary is headed by the High Court of Justice of Suriname
(Supreme Court). This court oversees the courts of first instance.
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 aspects. The
principle of concordance can explain the clearly identifiable Dutch
orientation in legal life. The highest court 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. Judges are appointed by the
President of the Republic.
The political parties that had parliamentary representation in the
2020 elections were:
Vooruitstrevende Hervormingspartij (‘Progressive
Reform Party’).
NDP (Nationale Democratische Partij: ‘National
Democratic Party’).
Algemene Bevrijdings- en Ontwikkelingspartij
(General Liberation and Development Party).
Nationale Partij Suriname
(‘National Party of Suriname’).
Broederschap en Eenheid in de
Politiek (Brotherhood and Unity in Politics).
Pertjajah Luhur
President Dési Bouterse was convicted and sentenced in the
Netherlands to eleven years in prison for drug trafficking. He is the
prime suspect in the court case concerning the December murders, the
1982 killing of opponents of the military government at Fort Zeelandia,
Paramaribo. These two cases continue to strain relations between the
Netherlands and Suriname.
Due to the 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 programme.
Since 1991, the United States has had
positive relations with Suriname. The two 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 US Department of Defense.
The European Union's
relations and cooperation with 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 a party to the Cotonou Agreement, the
partnership agreement between members of the African, Caribbean and
Pacific Group of States and the European Union.
On 17 February
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 23 and 24 April
2009, both nations formed a Joint Commission in Paramaribo, Suriname, to
enhance relations and expand areas of cooperation and held a second
meeting for this purpose on 3 and 4 March 2011, in Dover, Barbados.
Their representatives reviewed issues of agriculture, trade, investment
and international transport.
In the late 2000s, Suriname
intensified development cooperation with other developing countries.
China's South-South cooperation with Suriname has included a number of
large-scale infrastructure projects.
Suriname is a member of
numerous international organisations. 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 Amazon basin
countries that focuses on protecting the Amazon region's natural
resources from environmental degradation.
Reflecting its status
as a major producer of bauxite, 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
several countries in the region, covering various areas of cooperation,
have demonstrated 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 the French authorities. Long-standing border
conflicts with Guyana and French Guiana remain unresolved. Negotiations
with the Guyanese government, mediated by the Jamaican prime minister in
2000, failed to produce an agreement, but the countries agreed to resume
talks following Guyanese national elections in 2001. In January 2002,
the presidents of Suriname and Guyana met in Suriname and agreed to
resume negotiations, establishing the Suriname-Guyana border commission
which would begin meeting in May 2002. An earlier dispute with Brazil
ended amicably following the formal demarcation of the border.
In
May 1997, then-President Wijdenbosch joined President Clinton and 14
other Caribbean leaders at the first U.S. regional summit in Bridgetown,
Barbados. The summit strengthened the foundation of the Partnership for
Prosperity and Security in the Caribbean, which establishes a framework
for cooperation in justice and counternarcotics, finance, development
and trade.
After Suriname enforced its maritime territorial claims against
Guyana militarily in June 2000 by using two patrol boats against the
Canadian company CGX Energy Inc. and thus prevented the construction of
an oil rig, the State of Guyana called on the Permanent Court of
Arbitration (PCA), based in The Hague, to resolve the border dispute in
February 2004.
In consultation with the PCA, Presidents Ronald
Venetiaan and Bharrat Jagdeo publicly announced the final ruling of the
five-member arbitration panel on September 20, 2007. The arbitration
panel awarded 33,152 km² of the resource-rich marine area to Guyana and
17,871 km² to Suriname. Both heads of state welcomed the decision and
the settlement of the dispute. The ruling means that oil companies can
begin exploring and developing the coastal basin. There are believed to
be 15 billion barrels of oil reserves and 1.2 trillion cubic meters of
gas deposits under the seabed.
According to previous
investigations, most of these deposits are probably on the Guyanese
side. The area that led to military intervention by Suriname in June
2000 and forced the company CGX Energy to withdraw is also within the
area allocated to Guyana. The tribunal rejected the 34 million US
dollars in compensation demanded by Guyana for this action.
The
arbitration tribunal also confirmed that the entire Corantijn River
belongs to Surinamese territory. This means that Suriname has control
over all shipping traffic from the mouth of the Corantijn.
A large part of the population lives abroad as migrant workers;
around 345,000 people of Surinamese origin live in the Netherlands alone
(as of January 1, 2011). Many of them emigrated at the time of
independence, after the coup in 1980 or after the "December murders" of
1982. For the Surinamese community, this exodus meant a significant loss
of life, as a large part of the trained cadres also left the country or
did not return after completing their studies. This had significant
negative effects in many areas (brain drain).
On the other hand,
a study by the University of Utrecht found that in 2006, 70% of
Surinamese or Dutch people of Surinamese descent living in the
Netherlands transferred 125 million euros to Suriname. 47% of Surinamese
households benefited from this.
There are 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 Defence.
The National Army (Nationaal Leger) is the armed force of the
Republic of Suriname. The largest component is the land component,
consisting 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 multi-functional institute, which can also be
deployed to support the Suriname Police Force, for development tasks and
to combat crime.
A modest air force (LUMA or Luchtmacht) was formally created within
the National Army in 1982. The first military aircraft was a Hughes 500
Model 369D helicopter with the simple registration SAF-100 (Surinamese
Air Force One Hundred). This aircraft had an unfortunate accident on 31
March 1982 during a mission in the interior, killing all four occupants,
including the pilot, and that same year four Defenders were purchased
from Britten-Norman. These flew under the registration numbers SAF-001,
SAF-002, SAF-003 and SAF-004. The fleet was successively expanded with a
Cessna 172 Skyhawk (SAF-007), a Cessna 206 Turbo Stationary-6 (SAF-200)
and a Cessna 303 Crusader (SAF-008). All 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 Suriname Air Force. In 1989, while on his way to Major,
he was killed in the SLM disaster.
Suriname Air Force flights
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.
In 1977, the Suriname Navy (Marine van Suriname) received three
patrol boats from the Netherlands, built by De Vries Scheepsbouw. With
a length of 32 m and each boat powered by two 1200 hp Paxman 12YHMC
diesel engines, these vessels could reach a maximum speed of 20 knots.
The vessels were transferred to Suriname between February 1977 and 1978
with the bow numbers S-401, S-402 and S-403. These vessels have been out
of service for years; the last operational vessel, S-401, was later
converted into P-401 and is still docked 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 Defence had
ordered three patrol boats for the newly created Coast Guard (called
Kustwacht) from the French company OCEA.
The Military Police Corps (locally called Korps Militaire Politie) is
an independent unit of the National Army.
In order to perform
their duties as effectively as possible and maintain the quality of the
motorcycles, the riders of the Military Police Corps attended a riding
and skills training from June 10 to 13, 2014. These training sessions
were conducted by Yamaha experts from Japan. In the process, the riders
were given agility exercises and the most basic maintenance operations
for each engine size. In addition, they were taught the correct sitting
position and how to act in case of calamities.
11 members of the
Military Police Corps participated in a course on Defensive Tactics for
Military Public Order and Security Operations from April 11 to 15, 2014.
This course was the culmination of a series of training sessions in
which new tactics were taught. 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.
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, detecting crimes and monitoring
compliance with laws and regulations in Suriname.
Organizationally, the force can be divided as follows: General Police,
Special Police and 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 Paramaribo policemen; the national police by soldiers. In
1863, the year of the abolition of slavery, the Military Police Corps
was established, which took over the tasks of the national police.
Command of both police forces was in the hands of the attorney general.
A support corps of BAVP (Special Agents of the Police) was also created.
Then, in 1867, the Quartermaster Corps was added. In the districts
outside Paramaribo, the police were headed by district commissioners
(dc).
Suriname is divided into ten districts. The district capitals are
shown in brackets.
Brokopondo, 15,909 inhabitants, 7,364 km²
(Brokopondo)
Commewijne, 31,420 inhabitants, 2,353 km² (Nieuw
Amsterdam)
Coronie, 3,391 inhabitants, 3,902 km² (Totness)
Marowijne, 18,294 inhabitants, 4,627 km² (Albina)
Nickerie, 34,233
inhabitants, 5,353 km² (Nieuw-Nickerie)
Para, 24,700 inhabitants,
5,393 km² (Onverwacht)
Saramacca, 17,480 inhabitants, 3,636 km²
(Groningen)
Sipaliwini, 37,065 inhabitants, 130,567 km² (directly
administered by Paramaribo)
Wanica, 118,222 inhabitants, 443 km²
(Lelydorp)
Paramaribo, 240,924 inhabitants, 182 km² (capital
district)
(total: 541,638 inhabitants in Suriname; 2012 census)
The ten districts are in turn decentralized into 62 departments
(administrative units).
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 taking power in the autumn of 1996, the
Wijdenbosch government ended the previous government's structural
adjustment programme, claiming that it was unfair to the poorest
elements of society. Tax revenues declined as old taxes lapsed and the
government failed to implement 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
utilities sectors.
Excessive government spending, low tax
collection, a bloated civil service and a reduction in 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 longer on
average to register a new company than in almost any other country in
the world (694 days or about 99 weeks).
It is based on the
production of aluminium, 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 in two raw
materials that have suffered sharp price changes on the international
market since 2000: aluminium and oil. This leads to significant
variations in GDP, unemployment rate, foreign debt and inflation
annually.
The plans initiated in 2001 to reorganise the economic
system, open a process of liberalisation and improve the productive
structure have had disappointing results. Some American and Spanish
companies are carrying out new oil exploration and exploitation that are
yielding good results. The country also has significant mineral reserves
of gold and bauxite.
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 purchasing oil and derivatives are more
convenient.
On September 20, 2007, the international arbitration
court issued a ruling, which definitively delimited the maritime border
with Guyana, leaving the land border, which includes the New River
Triangle Region, pending.
Suriname's economy was dominated by the
bauxite industry, which accounted for more than 15% of GDP and 70% of
export earnings until 2016. Other major export products are rice,
bananas and shrimp. Recently, Suriname has 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
heavily dependent on trade, with its main trading partners being the
Netherlands, the United States, Canada and the Caribbean countries,
primarily Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and the islands of the former
Netherlands Antilles. (Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire)
The national currency is the Surinamese dollar (=100 cents); code: SRD. On 1 January 2004, the Surinamese guilder was replaced by the Surinamese dollar. The nominal value was thus reduced by a factor of one thousand. One thousand Surinamese guilders have thus become one Surinamese dollar. A peculiar side effect is that the old coins, which were no longer in use due to the devaluation, suddenly became worth a thousand times more. Since the beginning of 2016, the fixed relationship with the US dollar has been loosened and since March 2016 the exchange rate has been fixed by a series of weekly currency auctions. The exchange rate was then released and slowly increased. Towards the end of 2016, the exchange rate reached a level of 7.50 SDR 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 1 USD to 14.018 SRD (buy) and 14.29 SRD (sell).
Suriname is very rich in natural resources and therefore ranks high
on the list of countries with the most natural resources. Natural
resources include timber, gold, oil, bauxite and kaolin. There are also
small amounts of nickel, copper, platinum and iron ore. Other branches
of the economy include agriculture (crop, livestock, poultry and
fishing), timber and trade.
In the 21st century, gold was
discovered in the village of Tapanahoni in the Sipaliwini district,
which attracted 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. About 30 tons of gold are produced
and exported in Suriname each year. Gold exports generated an average of
about $1.5 billion per year between 2011 and 2013, which accounted for
two-thirds of the nation's total exports.
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 more than 25% of the world's bauxite production.
By 2008, the value of alumina exports was exceeded by that of gold.
Alcoa was negotiating with the state to sell Suralco, but in December
2014 the government rejected a proposal. Alcoa ceased its activities
completely in 2015 and on 1 January 2020 handed over ownership to the
State of Suriname. South of Paramaribo, the construction of a dam on the
Suriname created Lake Prof. Dr. Ir. W.J. van Blommestein; the Afobaka
hydroelectric power station on the lake supplies electricity, including
for aluminium production. The state-owned company Grassalco is engaged
in gold mining, stone chip mining, granite mining and plant propagation.
Another important pillar is the oil extraction by Staatsolie
Maatschappij Suriname N.V., mainly in Saramacca, a district 45
kilometres from Paramaribo. This company has been active since 13
December 1980 and Suriname is its sole shareholder. For more than 30
years, Staatsolie has been contributing to the development of Suriname.
The company is also an agent of the state, actively promotes Suriname's
hydrocarbon potential and controls oil deals on behalf of the state.
In neighbouring Guyana, large oil reserves have already been
demonstrated in the Stabroek block, but in Suriname, these reports did
not materialise until early January 2020. However, on 6 January 2020, US
oil company Apache and Total SA announced that they had found a
significant oil field offshore, in a well called Maka Central-1. The two
companies are continuing to drill for more oil. In March 2020, a second
discovery was announced, Sapakara West-1. Apache speaks of a
"significant find" without further details. Later in July, a third
discovery was made, Kwaskwasi-1, which was described as the best of the
three discoveries. No details have been revealed about the amount of oil
on the seabed. A fourth discovery was announced on 14 January 2021 at
the Keskesi East-1 well, and a second discovery was announced in the
Keskesi East-1 well in July 2021.
Due to the increased price of gold, this raw material is becoming an
increasingly important source of income. The largest gold producer in
Suriname is the Canadian company Iamgold. Iamgold has been producing in
the Rosebel gold open-pit mine in the Brokopondo district since 2004.
After the concession, which ran until 2011, only 5% of the turnover went
into the Surinamese state treasury. In the new framework agreement to be
concluded with Iamgold, the state share was to be significantly
increased. Iamgold announced in its 2010 annual report that a total of
12,300 kilograms of gold were mined in Brokopondo. The company also
announced that it cost $484 to produce a troy ounce of gold in 2010. The
average gold price in 2010 was around $1,225 per troy ounce.
In
June 2013, the Surinamese government signed a new concession agreement
with Iamgold. Suriname's revenue share is now 30%, up from the previous
5%. The term of the agreement is 15 years. In 2012, the Rosebel mine
produced 382,000 troy ounces of gold at a production cost of $671 per
ounce, and the mine's mining life was estimated at more than 19 years.
This is a sector of the Surinamese economy that is under the Ministry
of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.
In 2017, the main
products were rice, bananas and vegetables. The agricultural sector then
accounted for 11.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP), including
fisheries in Suriname, with a significant share for shrimp and yellowfin
tuna. 11.2% of Surinamese are employed in this industry.
At the
academic level, the University of Suriname offers courses in
agricultural sciences; the Celos academic research centre is located
nearby. In addition, the Polytechnic College of Suriname offers various
agricultural studies. In addition, there are secondary school courses
(Natin) and high school courses.
Agronomic knowledge and ideas
are often lacking in population agriculture. In order to reach out to
villagers in the most remote areas, the Ministry has repeatedly
travelled to the districts to provide courses and training, such as in
the remote village of Ricanaumofo. The Ministry has also launched sector
support projects, grants are awarded and equipment is loaned.
In
addition to business organisations, the Association of Agricultural
Exporters of Suriname, the Federation of Farmers of Suriname and the
Association for Support to the Agricultural Sector of Suriname (Agras)
are also active.
Since 2015, 8 October has been celebrated
annually as Farmers' Day, and the Most Sustainable Farmer in Suriname is
chosen annually; in 2020, this award was presented to Naga's Pickles in
Wanica by entrepreneur Ashokkoemar Narain.
In 2008, the
Agricultural Credit Fund was established with Treaty funds, providing
loans to small and medium-sized enterprises at a low interest rate.
Minister Lekhram Soerdjan lifted the fund in December 2018 and
transferred it to the National Development Bank (NOB). In late 2020, the
Santokhi government discussed reviving the fund with the United States
and the Netherlands; both countries expressed interest in supporting the
fund.
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.
Tourism has a stabilizing influence
on the Surinamese economy. It provides foreign exchange and strengthens
employment. There are environmental problems affecting the quality of
tourism, due to waste in nature and mercury poisoning from small-scale
mining.
The high season is from mid-August to early October, and
then again at Christmas and New Year's Eve. Travellers from far away
countries arrive at Zanderij Airport. The road network is limited and of
variable quality, and people drive on the left. For safety reasons,
travelling alone, in slums and in remote areas is not recommended.
Travellers from Europe have to apply for a tourist card; Antilleans do
not have to. Certain vaccinations and mosquito repellent measures are
recommended.
A trip to Suriname means an encounter with a
multi-ethnic society that often speaks the Dutch language. Paramaribo is
home to a large number of tourist attractions. The historic city centre
has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2002. The leisure area
is also located here. The capital is often the starting and ending point
for visits to other parts of the country. Via the East-West connection,
places on the coast can be visited; there are basically no white bathing
beaches. Domestic trips are primarily aimed at experiencing nature and
getting in touch with the local population. The Central Suriname Nature
Reserve, the largest protected rainforest in the world, is also on the
World Heritage List.
The state budget in 2016 included expenditures of the equivalent of
664 million US dollars, compared to revenues of the equivalent of 470
million US dollars. This results in a budget deficit of 5.4% of GDP.
The national debt in 2005 was 660 million US dollars or 37.0% of GDP.
In 2020, the share of government expenditure (in % of GDP) was as
follows:
Health: 6.8%
Education: 5.0%
Military: 1.2% (2019)
Infrastructure
Following the return of a more or less democratically elected
government in 1991, Dutch aid was resumed. The Dutch insisted that
Suriname undertake economic reforms and draw up specific plans
acceptable to the Dutch for the projects on which aid funds could be
spent. However, in 2000, the Netherlands revised the structure of its
aid package and informed the Surinamese authorities of its decision to
disburse aid by sectoral priorities rather than individual projects.
Although the current government does not favour this approach, it has
identified sectors and is working on sectoral analyses to present to the
Dutch.
After a brief respite in 1991-1996, when measures taken in
1993 led to economic stabilisation, a relatively stable exchange rate,
low inflation, sustainable fiscal policies and growth, Suriname's
economic situation deteriorated from 1996 to the present. This was
largely due to the lax fiscal policies of the Wijdenbosch government,
which, faced with declining Dutch development aid, financed its deficit
through central bank loans. As a result, the parallel foreign exchange
market boomed, so that by the end of 1998 the premium of the parallel
market rate over the official rate was 85%. With more than 90% of import
transactions being conducted at the parallel rate, inflation soared,
with 12-month inflation rising from 0.5% at the end of 1996, to 23% at
the end of 1998, and 113% at the end of 1999. The government also
instituted a regime of strict economic controls on prices, the exchange
rate, imports and exports in an effort to contain the adverse effects of
its economic policies. The cumulative impact of rampant inflation, an
unstable exchange rate and falling real incomes led to a political
crisis.
Dutch aid largely ceased after Dési Bouterse was elected
president. Aid from China has increased.
Suriname and its neighbour Guyana are the only two continental
countries in the Americas where driving is on the left. In Guyana, this
practice is inherited from colonial times; in the case of Suriname,
although it was colonised by the Netherlands, where driving is always on
the right, this practice was also implemented due to British influence.
Suriname also has a network of roads and railways, and the use of
sea routes is important.
Surinam 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 International Airport in Zanderij, 40 km south of Paramaribo, with international connections to Amsterdam, Miami (United States), Belém (Brazil) and the Caribbean region. Around half a million travellers 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.
Suriname drives on the left,79 along with neighbouring Guyana, 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. Trucks are often second-hand from the Netherlands and therefore have the steering wheel on the left side. Buses are small. Important traffic arteries are the East-West connection and the J.F. Kennedyweg (also called the motorway).
The most important means of transport in Suriname is water transport. In total there are 1200 km of navigable waterways. There are ports in Albina, Moengo, Nieuw-Nickerie, Paramaribo, Paranam and Wageningen. There are jetties along the rivers in each settlement. N.V. Havenbeheer Suriname operates the largest general port in Suriname at Paramaribo, as well as the one at Nieuw-Nickerie.
Airlines from Suriname
Blue Wing Airlines
Gumair
Surinam
Airways
Fly All Ways
Airlines operating to Suriname
Caribbean Airlines from Trinidad and Tobago.
GOL Airlines from
Brazil.
KLM from the Netherlands.
TUI Netherlands from the
Netherlands.
Trans Guyana Airways from Guyana.
Copa Airlines from
Panama.
The country has the remains of the old Lawa (single gauge) railway
from Onverwacht to Brownsberg (originally planned from Paramaribo to
Benzdorp on the Lawa, but only completed as far as Dam), which has not
been used since the 1980s, as well as the standard gauge railway from
Apoera to the Bakhuis Mountains (72 kilometres "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 the rolling
stock is rusty or was resold.
In November 2014, the Surinamese
government announced detailed plans for the construction of a new
railway line. The 29-kilometre line will run from Paramaribo to
Onverwacht. According to the plans, the two-track line will operate at
high frequency. This should make the overloaded road network safer. The
Dutch company Strukton is one of the candidates for the construction.
This is a 530 million Surinamese dollar project.
Suriname is connected to the rest of the world through two submarine
Internet cables. In Paramaribo, the Deep Blue cable currently under
construction will land, which will connect Suriname's Internet with
Guyana, Trinidad, Curacao, Aruba and Florida, among others. In Totness,
the Suriname-Guyana Submarine Cable System (SG-SCS) maritime cable will
land, a more local cable that will connect Suriname's Internet with
Guyana and Trinidad.
The Internet country code is: sr.