conventional long form: Republic of Suriname
conventional short form: Suriname
local long form: Republiek Suriname
local short form: Suriname
former: Netherlands Guiana, Dutch Guiana
163,270 km²
Paramaribo
Surinam dollar (SRD)
597
.sr
Dutch, English, Sranang Tongo, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles, much of the younger population, is lingua franca among others), Caribbean Hindustani, Javanese
Hindu, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Muslim, indigenous beliefs
470,784
constitutional democracy
five horizontal bands of green (top, double width), white, red (quadruple width), white, and green (double width); there is a large, yellow, five-pointed star centered in the red band
First explored by the Spaniards in the 16th century and then settled by the English in the mid-17th century, Suriname became a Dutch colony in 1667. With the abolition of slavery in 1863, workers were brought in from India and Java. Independence from the Netherlands was granted in 1975. Five years later the civilian government was replaced by a military regime that soon declared a socialist republic. It continued to exert control through a succession of nominally civilian administrations until 1987, when international pressure finally forced a democratic election. In 1990, the military overthrew the civilian leadership, but a democratically elected government - a four-party New Front coalition - returned to power in 1991 and has ruled since, expanding to eight parties in 2005.
tropical; moderated by trade winds
