Suriname: TravelGuide

Surinam, former Dutch Guyana, is a State of the northeast of South America, limited to the North by the Atlantic Ocean, in the East by the French Guiana, in the South by Brazil, and on the West by Guyana. The total surface of Surinam is 163 000 km2. The capital is Paramaribo. The topography of... More

Surinam, former Dutch Guyana, is a State of the northeast of South America, limited to the North by the Atlantic Ocean, in the East by the French Guiana, in the South by Brazil, and on the West by Guyana. The total surface of Surinam is 163 000 km2. The capital is Paramaribo. The topography of Surinam is constituted by a swampy coastal plain extending until a 80 km width towards the Atlantic Ocean, by a central tray(plateau) covered with vast savannas, with dunes and with forests, and southward, with a mountainous region covered with dense forests. Surinam is crossed by numerous streams, of which Maroni, following the border with the French Guiana; Courantyne, which follows the border with Guyana; as well as Coppename, Saramacca and Surinam.Surinam possesses a climate of equatorial type, with annual temperatures included between 23 ° and 32°C. The main natural resources of Surinam are the bauxite, the iron ore, the copper, the nickel, as well as the wood of the immense forests. The population of Surinam amounts to 415 000 inhabitants. The most represented ethnic groups are Hindo-Pakistanais, which constitute approximately 37 % of the population, and Creole (of at once African and Amerindian origin), which represent 31 % of the population. We also find Indonesians (15 %), African, downward Blacks of the slaves who had run away by migrating inward lands (10 %), Amerindians, descendants of the native tribes (3 %), Chinese (2 %) and Europeans (1 %).The official language is Dutch; however, a big part of the population also uses local languages as the sranan tongo, the Surinamese Creole. Less