Suriname

HISTORY

Dutch, English, French and Spanish explorers discovered the area which contains modern day Suriname in the early 16th century. 

The name Suriname probably derives from a Taino indigenous people called Surinen, who inhabited the area at the time of European contact.

By the early 17th century, sugar plantation colonies had been established by the Dutch and English along the many rivers in the fertile Guyana plains in the Suriname area.

Disputes arose between the Dutch and the English for control of the Suriname territory. In 1667, during negotiations leading to the Treaty of Breda, following the second Anglo-Dutch War, England traded any claims to the territory for New Amsterdam which became New York.

The first sharp prick to the British public's conscience about the horrors of the slave trade came in 1688 with the publication of Aphra Behn's novel Oroonoko about the sufferings of an African prince and his loved one, transported by the English to slavery in Surinam.

During the Dutch colonial period, Suriname was primarily a plantation economy dependent on African slaves and, following the abolition of slavery, indentured servants from Asia. 

Dutch colonists 1920 By Tropenmuseum, part of the National Museum of World Cultures

The actress Audrey Hepburn's maternal grandfather Baron Aarnoud van Heemstra, served as Governor of Dutch Suriname from 1921 to 1928.

Suriname became independent from the Netherlands on November 25, 1975. 

The Suriname flag was adopted on November 25, 1975, upon the independence of Suriname. The star represents the unity of all ethnic groups, the red stripe stands for progress and love, the green for hope and fertility, and the white bands for peace and justice.

Flag of Suriname

FUN SURINAME FACTS

At just under 165,000 square kilometers (64,000 square miles), Suriname is the smallest country in mainland South America. 

2016 map of Suriname

Suriname has a population of approximately 558,368 most of whom live on the country's north coast, in and around the capital and largest city, Paramaribo. It is the smallest population in South America.

About half the population of Suriname live in Paramaribo, which has more people than the next nine cities put together. 

Paramaribo is located on the banks of the Suriname River, and is around nine miles from the Caribbean coast.

Dutch is still the official language of Suriname.  Over 60% of the population speaks Dutch as a mother tongue, and most of the rest of the population speaks it as a second language. Suriname is the only sovereign nation outside Europe where Dutch is spoken by a majority of the population.

The industry of the country is centered on the mining and processing of bauxite from which aluminium is extracted. This makes up 15 percent of Suriname's Gross Domestic Product and more than 70% of its exports.

Thanks to large-scale immigration to South America from Asia in the 19th century, Hindustanis form the largest ethnic group in Suriname making up around thirty-seven percent of the population. 

Immigrants from India. By Tropenmuseum, part of the National Museum of World Cultures

The national sport of Suriname is football. Several of the most famous Dutch footballers, including Ruud Gullit, Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink are of Surinamese descent.

Since 1960, when they first entered the Olympics, Suriname have won two medals, a gold and a bronze, both won by the swimmer Anthony Nesty in 1988 and 1992. 

They drive on the left in Suriname. The only other South American country to do so is Guyana. 

Sources Daily Express, Tripsavvy