Suriname is a colony of which country. Paramaribo is the main city and capital of Suriname

is a country in the northeast of South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Guyana to the west. In the north it is washed by the Atlantic Ocean.

The name of the country comes from the ethnonym of the tribe of local Indians - Surin.

General information about Suriname

Official name: Republic of Suriname

Capital: Paramaribo

The area of ​​the land: 163.3 thousand sq. km

Total population: 487 thousand people

Administrative division: The state is divided into 10 districts.

Form of government: Republic.

Head of State: President elected for a term of 5 years.

Composition of the population: 37% - Indians, 31% - Creoles, 15% - Javanese, 2% - Maroons, 2% - Chinese, 2% - Europeans.

Official language: Dutch. Sranan Tongo (the most common language of interethnic communication, based on English with borrowings from many languages ​​​​- the so-called "bastard English"), Hindi, Javanese, Chinese.

Religion: 47% are Christians, 27% are Hindus, 20% are Muslims.

Internet domain: .sr

Mains voltage: ~127 V, 60 Hz

Phone country code: +597

Climate

Subequatorial, hot and constantly humid. The average air temperature is around +26°C and changes little throughout the year. Even at night, the temperature rarely drops below +24°C, and in the dry season it can reach +36°C in the shade. Constant northeast trade winds bring some coolness, but this is felt only in the coastal zone.

Precipitation is 2300-3000 mm per year, and rainy are about 200 days a year. The rainy season usually lasts from November to January and from May to July (during this time the rains often cause severe flooding). Although Suriname lies outside the hurricane zone, during the rainy season, powerful downpours with "sibibusi" winds (literally - "forest broom", such rains really often cut off almost all the foliage from the trees), during which up to 300 mm of water falls in a few hours, are not uncommon.

Geography

The Republic of Suriname is located in the northeastern part of South America. In the east it borders with French Guiana, in the south - with Brazil, in the west - with Guyana, in the north it is washed by the Atlantic Ocean.

Almost the entire territory of Suriname is a swampy coastal plain of about 80 km. wide, bordered by the Central Plateau. In the south are the mountains of the Guiana Plateau, overgrown with dense subequatorial forest. The total area of ​​the country is 163.3 thousand square meters. km.

The country is crossed by four major rivers flowing in a northerly direction: Koranteyn, along which part of the border with Guyana passes; Koppenam, Gran Rio, Suriname and Marowijne (the latter forms the border with French Guiana).

For agriculture and transportation of goods, the Kottika and Commeweine rivers, which flow into the Suriname River near its mouth, the Saramakka, which flows into the Koppename also near the mouth, and the Nickerie, a tributary of the Korantein, are also of great importance.

Because of the rapids, ships can only move within the coastal lowlands, so until recently, the southern regions of the country were practically isolated from the outside world.

Flora and fauna

Vegetable world

The Guiana Plateau is composed of ancient crystalline rocks. The surface is largely covered by tropical rainforest.

The country has a very diverse flora. There are forests in the mountainous regions and on the hills. Here there are oak, pine and birch groves, white acacias, poplars, willows, as well as a riot of scarlet poppies.

Evergreen trees and shrubs, pines and alpine pines, mastic trees, palms, holm and cork oaks, cypresses, cacti and agaves, plantations of cultivated plants grow on the coast: almonds, olives, citrus fruits, pomegranates.

In the Alps, hornbeam, chestnut, ash, and beech grow in deciduous forests. Among the fruit trees are vineyards, crops of rye, potatoes, coniferous and beech forests are located high in the mountains: fir, various types of spruce and pine, as well as alpine meadows.

Animal world

Of the representatives of the animal world, monkeys, jaguar, puma, tapir, anteater, small deer, armadillo, crocodile, a large number of birds, snakes live on the territory of Suriname. Landmark of the country is the endemic Surinamese frog.

Attractions

• Brownsburg National Park
• Suriname Museum
• Nickerie
• Jules Weydenbos Bridge

Banks and currency

Surinam dollar (SRD, S$), equal to 100 cents. Since January 1, 2004, the Surinamese dollar, pegged to the US dollar, has replaced the previously used Surinamese guilder. In circulation are banknotes in denominations of 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 dollars and coins in denominations of 250, 100, 25, 10, 5 and 1 cent.

Although the Surinamese dollar is considered the only legal tender in the country, coins in guilders (their current denomination should be calculated based on the proportion of 1000 guilders to 1 Surinamese dollar) can still be found in circulation, which are exchanged at the offices of the Central Bank of the country. Also, almost everywhere you can pay in US dollars.

Banks are open on weekdays from 7.00 to 14.00.

You can exchange currency in banks and exchange offices. It is not recommended to change currency on the street (there is a high risk of fraud), as well as in hotels, where the exchange rate is usually much lower than in exchange offices or banks. Currency exchange in many provincial banks is often time-consuming and requires a number of documents. Almost all stores and institutions accept US dollars at the normal rate, many stores even list prices in both Surinamese and US dollars, although this is illegal.

Credit cards are accepted in most restaurants, almost all hotels and many stores (American Express is the most widely used, MasterCard and Visa are slightly less). ATM ATMs are quite widespread in the capital - they can be found both in banks and in post offices in the central regions.

Traveler's checks can be cashed at banks. To avoid additional costs due to fluctuations in the exchange rate, it is recommended to bring checks in euros (they are accepted in all hotels and only at the official rate) or US dollars.

Useful information for tourists

In restaurants, it is customary to tip approximately 10% of the bill (note that waiters are a poorly paid category of staff, so if you can afford to tip, the quality of service will be better and the friendliness of the staff will be sincere).

Taxi drivers do not require tips, although it is possible to round the fare for convenience or negotiate it (and especially the type of currency) in advance.

Shopping in the markets, especially handicrafts, will be accompanied by mandatory bargaining, it is also possible to bargain in hotels, but only during the off-season or for long stays.

It is forbidden to export, without special permission, objects and things of historical and artistic value, especially those found at the bottom of the sea, non-canned meat products, products from the shell of a sea turtle and feathers and skins of tropical birds and animals.

Basic moments

About 90% of the territory is occupied by forests. The landscape of the coastal strip of the Atlantic Ocean (where 90% of the country's population lives) outwardly resembles Holland with a developed system of dams and drainage channels that form polders. The main role in the economy of Suriname is played by the mining industry, represented in fact only by the extraction of bauxite. Agriculture is low productive (up to 40% of food is imported). The most informative route for tourist acquaintance is from the capital of Paramaribo up the Suriname River to the Brokopondo reservoir and to the city of Malobbi.

The population of Suriname - 558,368 people (2016) - is a real ethnic kaleidoscope. A third of the inhabitants are descendants of Indians brought here in the 19th century, about 30% are Creoles, almost 15% are Indonesians, and about 10% are blacks. Until recently, up to 2 thousand people per month emigrated to the Netherlands - the former metropolis (Suriname gained independence only in 1975).

The climate of Suriname is hot and constantly humid. The average annual temperature is 26 °C. About 200 days a year are rainy. The driest period favorable for visiting the country is from September to November.

Nature

On the territory of Suriname, one can distinguish the coastal Guiana lowland, the savannah belt and the tropical forest belt of the Guiana Plateau.

The Guiana lowland, from 25 km in the east to 80 km in the west, is composed of alluvial and marine sands and clays. The surface is flat, marshy, in some places crossed by coastal ridges and dissected by rivers. Separate forest areas have been preserved. Small centers of agriculture are confined to coastal ramparts and drained areas of marshes.

To the south, on the slopes of the Guiana Plateau, a narrow belt of savannahs is common. The soils here are infertile, agriculture is poorly developed and has a consumer character.

The Guiana Plateau is composed of ancient crystalline rocks. The surface is largely covered by tropical rainforest. Against the general smoothed background, watershed mountain ranges and ranges stand out, especially the Wilhelmina Mountains with the highest point of the country - Mount Juliana (1230 m). On the southern slopes of the highlands, partly located within Suriname, savannahs reappear.

The country is crossed by four large rivers flowing in a northerly direction: Koranteyn, along which part of the border with Guyana, Koppename, Gran Rio, Suriname and Marowijne (the latter forms the border with French Guiana) passes. For agriculture and transportation of goods, the Kottika and Commeweine rivers, which flow into the Suriname River near its mouth, the Saramakka, which flows into Koppenam, also near the mouth, and the Nickerie, a tributary of the Korantein, are also of great importance. Because of the rapids, ships can only move within the coastal lowlands, so until recently, the southern regions of the country were practically isolated from the outside world.

The climate of Suriname is subequatorial, humid and hot. The average monthly temperatures range from 23° to 31° C. The average annual rainfall is 2300 mm in the plains and more than 3000 mm in the mountains. There are two wet seasons (from mid-November to February and from late March to mid-July) and two dry seasons (shorter from February to mid-March and longer from August to mid-November).

Population

In the 1990s, Suriname's annual population growth averaged 0.9%. About 90% of the population is concentrated in the coastal zone, primarily in Paramaribo and its suburbs. In the interior, the population density is extremely low.

The birth rate in Suriname tends to decrease - from 26 per 1000 in 1985–1990 to 18.87 per 1000 in 2004. The death rate is 6.99 per 1000. Thus, the natural increase of the population, 1.7% per year, is one among the lowest in Latin America. At the same time, the actual population growth is significantly reduced due to emigration, which increased sharply after 1950. By 1970 its level was 2% per year, by 1975, when the country gained independence, it reached 10%. A new wave of emigration rose after the political upheavals of 1980 and 1982. The total number of emigrants to the Netherlands reached 180 thousand by 1987. In 1998, the emigration rate was 9 people per 1000. At the same time, immigration into the country remains very small.

Surinamese society is characterized by ethnic stratification. According to 1997 data, 37% of the population of Suriname were Indians, descendants of immigrants who came to the country in the 19th century; 31% are blacks and mulattos, who are called Creoles in Suriname; 15.3% are from Indonesia; 10.3% - the so-called. "forest negros", descendants of runaway slaves living in the interior of the country; 2.6% - Indians, the indigenous inhabitants of the country; 1.7% are Chinese; 1% are Europeans and 1.1% are representatives of other ethnic groups.

Creoles, who make up two-thirds of the urban population, are settled mainly in Paramaribo and its suburbs. Indians are concentrated in the most productive agricultural areas. They make up less than a quarter of the urban population. The Indonesians are located in the less fertile agrarian areas, they form the majority only in the district of Commeweine, where they are employed as wage laborers on the plantations. Indians and "forest blacks" mainly live in the interior of the country.

The ethnic diversity of Suriname is also manifested in the language. The official language is Dutch, but many Surinamese do not consider it their mother tongue, and some do not know it at all. The language of interethnic communication was the Sranan Tongo language, born in a Negro-mulatto environment, in other words, Negro English, or bastard English, also called Toki-Toki or Surinamese. At least 16 other languages ​​are spoken in the country, including Hindi, Indonesian, Chinese, two "forest black" languages ​​- Aukan and Saramackan, and at least four Indian languages.

The same diversity is observed in confessions. Christianity is represented by Protestant (mainly Moravian, 25.2%) and Roman Catholic (22.8% adherents) churches. Indians practice Hinduism (27.6%) or Islam (19.6%). Most Indonesians are Islamists, part of the population are Catholics. In Suriname, there are supporters of Judaism and Confucianism. Negroes practice syncretic African-American cults, which include elements of Christianity and pagan rites of healing and evocation of spirits.

The class structure of Surinamese society is very blurred. The struggle for economic and political dominance unfolds between different ethnic groups that dominate some areas of activity. At the same time, class stratification is also observed within ethnic groups. Thus, in the Negro-Mulatto environment, there is a narrow stratum of specialists who have received a European education and government employees, as well as a wide lower stratum of workers with low qualifications or even unskilled ones. Indians in the first half of the 20th century established control over agriculture, and after the Second World War they began to actively master urban professions and now compete with other ethnic groups in all areas of the economy. Indonesians generally remain on the sidelines, forming a stratum of agricultural wage laborers. The Chinese, predominantly employed in urban retail, belong to the middle and upper classes, the "forest blacks" and the Indians living in the wilderness, represent the marginalized groups of the population.

In the 1980s, Suriname experienced a reduction in welfare programs. The Netherlands and some religious communities bear the cost of medical care for the population. The average life expectancy in Suriname in 1998 was 70.6 years (68 for men and 73.3 for women).

Suriname has declared compulsory education for children between the ages of 6 and 12. Economic difficulties have a negative impact on the quality of education. In 1993, 94% of children attended primary schools. The University of Suriname (founded in 1968) and other institutions of higher learning had 4,400 students in 1992. Competently 93% of the adult population. If in 1975 there were 7 daily newspapers in the country, then at the end of the 1990s there were only two (“West” and “Ware Tide”), which are published in the Dutch language.

Story

The indigenous people of Suriname lived in separate tribes in small settlements, earning their living by hunting and primitive agriculture, the basis of which was the cultivation of root crops, mainly cassava. The coastal tribes spoke the languages ​​of the Arawak family, the Indians of the interior - the Caribbean languages. The coast of Suriname was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1498 during the third expedition to the New World. However, for a long time the Spaniards and the Portuguese did not try to colonize the area. Only at the end of the 16th century. the British, French and Dutch began to take an interest in Guiana, as rumors spread that the fabulously rich country of El Dorado was located there. The Europeans never found gold, but they founded trading posts along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

The first permanent settlement was founded on the Suriname River by Dutch merchants in 1551. At the end of the 16th century. Suriname was captured by the Spaniards, in 1630 by the British, who then, under a peace treaty in Breda (1667), ceded Suriname to Holland in exchange for New Amsterdam (now New York). Among the first colonists of Suriname were many Dutch and Italian Jews who fled from the persecution of the Inquisition. In 1685, on the Suriname River, 55 km southeast of modern Paramaribo, they founded the colony of Yodensavanne (lit. Jewish Savannah). Until 1794, Suriname was under the control of the Dutch West India Company and since then has remained a colony of the Netherlands (with the exception of two short periods in 1799-1802 and 1804-1814, when it was captured by the British).

The basis of the economy of the colony was the plantation economy. Slaves were brought in from Africa to work on the plantations. Along with the main crop, sugar cane, coffee and chocolate trees, indigo, cotton, and cereals were grown on plantations. The plantation economy expanded until 1785. By this time, there were 590 plantations in Suriname; of these, 452 cultivated sugar cane and other cash crops, and the rest cultivated crops for domestic consumption. At the very end of the 18th century. the colony began to decline. By 1860 there were only 87 sugarcane plantations left, and by 1940 only four.

In Suriname, as in other sugar-producing colonies that used the labor of slaves, there was a sharp stratification of society. At the highest rung of the social hierarchy was a very small layer of Europeans, mostly colonial officials, large merchants and a few planters. The European population was dominated by the Dutch, but there were also Germans, French and British. Below this elite was a layer of free Creoles, which included descendants from marriages of Europeans with slaves and slaves who received or bought freedom. The lowest and most numerous category of society were slaves. Among them, they distinguished between slaves brought from Africa legally until 1804 and illegally until 1820, and slaves born in Suriname.

The system of slavery in Suriname was characterized by extreme cruelty. Slaves had no rights. Colonial laws were intended to give slave owners unlimited power over slaves and completely isolate the latter from the free population. Therefore, the slaves, at every opportunity, fled from their masters into the interior of the country and created settlements in the forests (“forest negros”).

From the beginning of the 19th century in Europe, the campaign for the abolition of slavery was expanding. After the British (1833) and then the French (1848) abolished slavery in their colonies, the Dutch decided to follow suit. However, it was feared that the freed slaves would not want to work on the plantations. Therefore, following the abolition of slavery, it was decided that the slaves should work on the former plantations for 10 years for a minimum wage. The decree on the abolition of slavery was adopted in 1863. After that, the freed slaves were faced with the need to feed themselves and their families and poured into Paramaribo, where labor was better paid and it was possible to get an education. There they replenished the middle Creole layer of society, becoming servants, workers, merchants, and their descendants - even elementary school teachers and petty officials. At the end of the 19th century some Creoles moved into the interior of the country, where they engaged in gold mining and rubber collection. In the 1920s, Creoles found work in bauxite mines, and also emigrated to Curaçao (where they worked at oil refineries), the Netherlands and the USA.

In search of labor for the plantations, the colonial authorities began to recruit residents of Asian countries under the contract. In the period 1853-1873, 2.5 thousand Chinese were brought to Suriname, in 1873-1922 - 34 thousand Indians, in 1891-1939 - 33 thousand Indonesians. The descendants of these migrants now make up the majority of Suriname's population. During the Second World War, there were many American soldiers in Suriname, along with them, capital appeared to serve the US military bases.

For a long time, Suriname was governed by a governor appointed by the metropolis. Under him, there were two councils elected by local electors and approved by the Dutch authorities. In 1866, these councils were replaced by parliament, but the governor retained the right to veto any decisions of this body. Initially, a strict property and educational qualification was in effect to participate in the elections, but as it was softened, planters began to penetrate the parliament, and after 1900 the majority in it was already made up of representatives of the upper and middle strata of Creole society. However, the electorate did not exceed 2% of the population until 1949, when universal suffrage was introduced.

In 1954 Suriname received autonomy within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. At the same time, the metropolis still appointed the governor and controlled the defense and foreign policy of the country, and the Surinamese elected the parliament and government.

After 1949, the Creoles gained great influence in parties organized along ethnic lines. They formed a coalition with the Indonesians, who also supported the independence of Suriname, won the 1973 elections and formed a government led by Prime Minister Henk Arron, leader of the National Party of Suriname (NPS). Negotiations with the Netherlands were successful, and on November 25, 1975, the independence of Suriname was proclaimed. After that ok. 40,000 Asian Surinamese emigrated to the Netherlands. The former metropolis pledged to provide financial assistance to the young state in the amount of $ 1.5 billion within 15 years. Before independence, two more political parties formed in Suriname: the Indian Progressive Reform Party and the Indonesian National Unity and Solidarity Party.

Arron, re-elected in 1977, was accused of corruption and removed from his post in 1980 in a military coup by a group of army officers led by Lieutenant Colonel Desi Bouterse. The National Military Council came to power, which dissolved parliament by February 1982, repealed the constitution, and dismissed the last representative of the civilian government, President Henk Chin Ah Sen. The latter, together with thousands of Surinamese, emigrated to the Netherlands, where, in order to fight the dictatorial regime, he formed the Movement for the Liberation of Suriname. The economic crisis was added to the political crisis, caused by the fall in world prices for bauxite. Economic losses were only partly compensated by money transfers from emigrants to their homeland.

After the military tortured and killed 15 known citizens of the country, the Netherlands stopped financial assistance to Suriname. Under domestic and international pressure, the National Military Council in 1985 authorized the formation of a new parliament and lifted the ban on political parties. After that, Arron entered the National War Council, renamed the Supreme Council.

In July 1986, with the support of the Movement for the Liberation of Suriname, several hundred lightly armed "forest blacks" revolted in the south and east of the country. Led by Ronnie Brunswijk, Bouterse's former personal bodyguard, they formed the Surinamese Liberation Army, designed to restore constitutional order to the country. Within a few months, they destabilized the work of bauxite mines and oil refineries. Bouterse accused the government of the Netherlands and Surinamese emigrants, among others, of aiding the rebels, which led to the rupture of diplomatic relations between Suriname and the Netherlands in early 1987. The Surinamese army tried to suppress the uprising with cruel measures, often violating the rights of its own citizens and foreigners. This policy caused widespread discontent, and the population demanded reforms. In a referendum in September 1987, 93% of voters voted in favor of the new constitution.

In the November 1987 parliamentary elections, representatives of the Bouterse party received only three seats out of 51, while the multi-ethnic Front for Democracy and Development received 40 seats. In January 1988, Ramsevak Shankar, a businessman of Indian origin, became president, and Arron became vice president and prime minister. Bouterse retained some power as head of the five-member Military Council. Shankar's policy was aimed at improving relations with the Netherlands and the United States. The Netherlands again began to provide assistance to Suriname, promising to pay 721 million dollars over 7-8 years. Bauxite mining resumed.

However, in December 1990 the military removed the civilian government and dissolved the National Assembly. Under pressure from the world community, the military was forced in May 1991 to hold elections with the participation of international observers. In these elections, a coalition called the New Front for Democracy, which included three traditional ethnic parties, the Front for Democracy and Development and the Labor Party of Suriname, gained 30 votes in parliament. In September, Ronald R. Venetian, candidate of the National Party of Suriname, took over as president; the leader of the Indian Progressive Reform Party, Yul R. Ayodiya, became Vice President and Prime Minister. Colonel Bauterse remained commander-in-chief of the army.

In August 1992, Venetian reached peace agreements with the Surinamese Liberation Army rebels. Bouterse was replaced as commander-in-chief by Arti Gorre. In the first half of the 1990s, Suriname, along with some other Latin American countries, embarked on the path of liberal economic reforms. Venetian managed to curb inflation and improve relations with the Netherlands, which increased financial aid to Suriname and investment in the economy. However, trade union opposition and the collapse of the New Front coalition led to Venetian's defeat in the May 1996 elections. Indonesian parties and with a number of small parties approved their candidate Weidenbosch as president. At the same time, the coalition turned out to be rather weak, and in 1997-1998 the new government was unable to put its legislative program into effect. Behind Weidenbosch stood Bouterse. Under him, Suriname became the main transshipment base for drugs on the way from Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia to the Netherlands and the United States. The police were led by Bouterse's closest associate, Colonel Etienne Burenveen, who was convicted in Miami in the 1980s and served five years in prison for dealing cocaine. Another Bouterse employee, Henk Goodschalk, became head of the Central Bank of Suriname. In August 1998, at the request of the Dutch government, Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Bouterse on charges of drug dealing and financial fraud.

The coastline of Suriname has a length of 360 km; from north to south, the country stretches for more than 400 km. The population of the country is 428 thousand people (1998). The capital and the only major city is Paramaribo (180 thousand inhabitants). Other significant cities are Nieuw Nickerie, Albina and Mungo.

Nature.

On the territory of Suriname, one can distinguish the coastal Guiana lowland, the savannah belt and the tropical forest belt of the Guiana Plateau.

The Guiana lowland, from 25 km in the east to 80 km in the west, is composed of alluvial and marine sands and clays. The surface is flat, marshy, in some places crossed by coastal ridges and dissected by rivers. Separate forest areas have been preserved. Small centers of agriculture are confined to coastal ramparts and drained areas of marshes.

To the south, on the slopes of the Guiana Plateau, a narrow belt of savannahs is common. The soils here are infertile, agriculture is poorly developed and has a consumer character.

The Guiana Plateau is composed of ancient crystalline rocks. The surface is largely covered by tropical rainforest. Against the general smoothed background, watershed mountain ranges and ranges stand out, especially the Wilhelmina Mountains with the highest point of the country - Mount Juliana (1230 m). On the southern slopes of the highlands, partly located within Suriname, savannahs reappear.

The country is crossed by four large rivers flowing in a northerly direction: Koranteyn, along which part of the border with Guyana, Koppename, Gran Rio, Suriname and Marowijne (the latter forms the border with French Guiana) passes. For agriculture and transportation of goods, the Kottika and Commeweine rivers, which flow into the Suriname River near its mouth, the Saramakka, which flows into Koppenam, also near the mouth, and the Nickerie, a tributary of the Korantein, are also of great importance. Because of the rapids, ships can only move within the coastal lowlands, so until recently, the southern regions of the country were practically isolated from the outside world.

The climate of Suriname is subequatorial, humid and hot. The average monthly temperatures range from 23° to 31° C. The average annual rainfall is 2300 mm in the plains and more than 3000 mm in the mountains. There are two wet seasons (from mid-November to February and from late March to mid-July) and two dry seasons (shorter from February to mid-March and longer from August to mid-November).

population and society.

In the 1990s, Suriname's annual population growth averaged 0.9%. About 90% of the population is concentrated in the coastal zone, primarily in Paramaribo and its suburbs. In the interior, the population density is extremely low.

The birth rate in Suriname tends to decrease - from 26 per 1000 in 1985–1990 to 18.87 per 1000 in 2004. The death rate is 6.99 per 1000. Thus, the natural increase of the population, 1.7% per year, is one among the lowest in Latin America. At the same time, the actual population growth is significantly reduced due to emigration, which increased sharply after 1950. By 1970 its level was 2% per year, by 1975, when the country gained independence, it reached 10%. A new wave of emigration rose after the political upheavals of 1980 and 1982. The total number of emigrants to the Netherlands reached 180 thousand by 1987. In 1998, the emigration rate was 9 people per 1000. At the same time, immigration into the country remains very small.

Surinamese society is characterized by ethnic stratification. According to 1997 data, 37% of the population of Suriname were Indians, descendants of immigrants who came to the country in the 19th century; 31% are blacks and mulattos, who are called Creoles in Suriname; 15.3% are from Indonesia; 10.3% - the so-called. "forest negros", descendants of runaway slaves living in the interior of the country; 2.6% - Indians, the indigenous inhabitants of the country; 1.7% are Chinese; 1% are Europeans and 1.1% are representatives of other ethnic groups.

Creoles, who make up two-thirds of the urban population, are settled mainly in Paramaribo and its suburbs. Indians are concentrated in the most productive agricultural areas. They make up less than a quarter of the urban population. The Indonesians are located in the less fertile agrarian areas, they form the majority only in the district of Commeweine, where they are employed as wage laborers on the plantations. Indians and "forest blacks" mainly live in the interior of the country.

The ethnic diversity of Suriname is also manifested in the language. The official language is Dutch, but many Surinamese do not consider it their mother tongue, and some do not know it at all. The language of interethnic communication was the Sranan Tongo language, born in a Negro-mulatto environment, in other words, Negro English, or bastard English, also called Toki-Toki or Surinamese. At least 16 other languages ​​are spoken in the country, including Hindi, Indonesian, Chinese, two "forest black" languages ​​- Aukan and Saramackan, and at least four Indian languages.

The same diversity is observed in confessions. Christianity is represented by Protestant (mainly Moravian, 25.2%) and Roman Catholic (22.8% adherents) churches. Indians practice Hinduism (27.6%) or Islam (19.6%). Most Indonesians are Islamists, part of the population are Catholics. In Suriname, there are supporters of Judaism and Confucianism. Negroes practice syncretic African-American cults, which include elements of Christianity and pagan rites of healing and evocation of spirits.

The class structure of Surinamese society is very blurred. The struggle for economic and political dominance unfolds between different ethnic groups that dominate some areas of activity. At the same time, class stratification is also observed within ethnic groups. Thus, in the Negro-Mulatto environment, there is a narrow stratum of specialists who have received a European education and government employees, as well as a wide lower stratum of workers with low qualifications or even unskilled ones. Indians in the first half of the 20th century established control over agriculture, and after the Second World War they began to actively master urban professions and now compete with other ethnic groups in all areas of the economy. Indonesians generally remain on the sidelines, forming a stratum of agricultural wage laborers. The Chinese, predominantly employed in urban retail, belong to the middle and upper classes, the "forest blacks" and the Indians living in the wilderness, represent the marginalized groups of the population.

In the 1980s, Suriname experienced a reduction in welfare programs. The Netherlands and some religious communities bear the cost of medical care for the population. The average life expectancy in Suriname in 1998 was 70.6 years (68 for men and 73.3 for women).

Suriname has declared compulsory education for children between the ages of 6 and 12. Economic difficulties have a negative impact on the quality of education. In 1993, 94% of children attended primary schools. The University of Suriname (founded in 1968) and other institutions of higher learning had 4,400 students in 1992. Competently 93% of the adult population. If in 1975 there were 7 daily newspapers in the country, then at the end of the 1990s there were only two (“West” and “Ware Tide”), which are published in the Dutch language.

Government and politics.

In 1975, when Suriname gained independence, a constitution was adopted, according to which the country was proclaimed a parliamentary republic, the former governor-general remained the formal president of the country, and real executive power passed to the cabinet of ministers. As a result of the military coup in 1980, the constitution was abolished. The new constitution, approved by popular referendum in 1987, provides for the popular election for a term of five years of 51 deputies of the legislative body - the National Assembly, which in turn elects the president (head of state) and the vice president, who heads the cabinet, who is appointed by the president himself. The President forms the State Council of 15 people - representatives of political forces, trade unions, business and military circles. The Council of State makes recommendations to the Cabinet and has the power to veto laws coming from the National Assembly. In practice, Lieutenant Colonel Desi Bouterse, who led the coup d'état in 1980 and ruled the country until 1987, enjoyed almost unlimited power as Councilor of State, although his power was somewhat limited after his resignation from the post of commander-in-chief of the army in April 1993.

The judiciary of Suriname consists of a Supreme Court composed of six judges appointed for life by the President and three lower courts. Administratively, the country is divided into 10 districts under the administration of the administrative representatives of the President: Brokopondo, Commeweine, Koroni, Maroweine, Nikeri, Para, Paramaribo, Saramacca, Sipaliwini and Wanika.

After the Second World War, three political parties were formed in Suriname: the National Party of Suriname (founded in 1946), expressing the interests of the small and middle national bourgeoisie of Creole origin, the Indonesian Party of National Unity and Solidarity (1947) and the United Hindustani Party (1949, since 1969 called the Progressive Reform Party, which unites Indians. These essentially ethnic parties were banned after the Bouterse coup d'état in 1980. In 1985 they emerged from the underground and two years later formed the coalition Front for Democracy and Development led by Ronald Venetian. The Front initially opposed the National Democratic Party (NDP), founded by Bouterse in 1987. In the same year, the Suriname Labor Party emerged, which in 1991 joined the Front, which won the 1987 elections. The Front briefly lost power during a military coup in December 1990 , but in the 1991 elections he again won and brought Venetian to the presidency. In 1996, the NDP entered into a coalition with the Indonesian Party and a number of minor parties and led to the victory of its candidate in the elections. Jules Weidenbosch became the new president.

Economy.

The country's economic development was hampered by a small population, lack of well-maintained roads, and political instability. In 1996, Suriname's GDP was $523 million, i.e. $1,306 per capita (GDP reached $1.08 billion in the 1980s). The decline in GDP was due to guerrilla warfare in bauxite mining areas, economic mismanagement, and falling demand and prices for bauxite and aluminium, Suriname's main export products. Bauxite mining, which previously accounted for 80% of exports and 30% of GDP annually, fell in 1997 to 70% of exports and 15% of GDP. In Suriname, large-scale development of bauxite deposits began after the Second World War: then more than 75% of bauxite was exported from Suriname to the United States. Currently, Suriname mined approx. 4 million tons of bauxite per year, and it is one of the ten largest producers of bauxite in the world. The main deposits are concentrated in Paranam and Mungo in the northeast of the country. The bauxite mining industry is controlled by American and Dutch companies. Bauxite mining is highly mechanized, so less than 5% of the working population is employed in this industry. In the 1990s, Suriname exported approx. 300 kg of gold. Deposits of iron ore, copper, nickel, platinum, manganese and kaolin have been explored, but they are not being developed.

In 1981, oil fields were discovered in Suriname. In 1997, its production reached 300 thousand tons and continues to grow at a rapid pace. About 40% of crude oil is exported, the rest goes to energy service for the production of alumina and aluminum. Thus, Suriname has sharply reduced its dependence on other energy sources and imported energy carriers (oil products and coal). In the 1960s, a hydroelectric power station was built in Afobak, providing cheap electricity that is used in the production of aluminum. The country has a number of public and private thermal power plants.

The industry of Suriname as a whole is underdeveloped, so the country imports many essential industrial products, although it provides itself with food. In addition to bauxite mining and processing, Suriname produces beverages, tobacco products, footwear and cement.

60% of all agricultural production in Suriname is rice, mainly from the Nickerie district. Under this culture, approx. 50 thousand hectares. The largest rice plantation is located near Wageningen, it is mostly Indonesian workers. However, in general, small farms predominate. Bananas, palm oil, coconuts, citrus fruits, coffee, beef, chickens stand out among the agricultural products of Suriname. Sugar cane, which for centuries was the basis of the colonial economy, now occupies a very modest place. The importance of shrimp and timber harvesting is growing.

Between 1983 and 1988, the official unemployment rate was 13.2%. In fact, this figure was even higher, especially in Paramaribo, where seasonal agricultural workers flocked in search of work. Unemployment continued to be a serious problem in the 1990s, marked by an economic downturn. In 1998, the share of employees was 49% of the working population (100 thousand), of which 35% are employed in the private sector and 16% in state-owned companies. In the 1980s, due to the persistent budget deficit, the country's foreign exchange reserves were significantly reduced. The situation has improved since 1988, when Suriname began to receive financial assistance from the Netherlands, the US, the EU, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

In 1996, Suriname's export earnings were $457.7 million and import expenditures were $415.5 million. After bauxite, alumina, and aluminum, rice, timber, bananas, and shrimp were important exports. The latter are exported mainly to the USA (25%), the Netherlands and the EU countries. Suriname imports engineering products, oil, steel and rolled products, agricultural products and consumer goods. 50% of imports come from the US and the rest from Brazil, the EU and the Caribbean.

Story.

The indigenous people of Suriname lived in separate tribes in small settlements, earning their living by hunting and primitive agriculture, the basis of which was the cultivation of root crops, mainly cassava. The coastal tribes spoke the languages ​​of the Arawak family, the Indians of the interior - the Caribbean languages. The coast of Suriname was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1498 during the third expedition to the New World. However, for a long time the Spaniards and the Portuguese did not try to colonize the area. Only at the end of the 16th century. the British, French and Dutch began to take an interest in Guiana, as rumors spread that the fabulously rich country of El Dorado was located there. The Europeans never found gold, but they founded trading posts along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

The first permanent settlement was founded on the Suriname River by Dutch merchants in 1551. At the end of the 16th century. Suriname was captured by the Spaniards, in 1630 by the British, who then, under a peace treaty in Breda (1667), ceded Suriname to Holland in exchange for New Amsterdam (now New York). Among the first colonists of Suriname were many Dutch and Italian Jews who fled from the persecution of the Inquisition. In 1685, on the Suriname River, 55 km southeast of modern Paramaribo, they founded the colony of Yodensavanne (lit. Jewish Savannah). Until 1794, Suriname was under the control of the Dutch West India Company and since then has remained a colony of the Netherlands (with the exception of two short periods in 1799-1802 and 1804-1814, when it was captured by the British).

The basis of the economy of the colony was the plantation economy. Slaves were brought in from Africa to work on the plantations. Along with the main crop, sugar cane, coffee and chocolate trees, indigo, cotton, and cereals were grown on plantations. The plantation economy expanded until 1785. By this time, there were 590 plantations in Suriname; of these, 452 cultivated sugar cane and other cash crops, and the rest cultivated crops for domestic consumption. At the very end of the 18th century. the colony began to decline. By 1860 there were only 87 sugarcane plantations left, and by 1940 only four.

In Suriname, as in other sugar-producing colonies that used the labor of slaves, there was a sharp stratification of society. At the highest rung of the social hierarchy was a very small layer of Europeans, mostly colonial officials, large merchants and a few planters. The European population was dominated by the Dutch, but there were also Germans, French and British. Below this elite was a layer of free Creoles, which included descendants from marriages of Europeans with slaves and slaves who received or bought freedom. The lowest and most numerous category of society were slaves. Among them, they distinguished between slaves brought from Africa legally until 1804 and illegally until 1820, and slaves born in Suriname.

The system of slavery in Suriname was characterized by extreme cruelty. Slaves had no rights. Colonial laws were intended to give slave owners unlimited power over slaves and completely isolate the latter from the free population. Therefore, the slaves, at every opportunity, fled from their masters into the interior of the country and created settlements in the forests (“forest negros”).

From the beginning of the 19th century in Europe, the campaign for the abolition of slavery was expanding. After the British (1833) and then the French (1848) abolished slavery in their colonies, the Dutch decided to follow suit. However, it was feared that the freed slaves would not want to work on the plantations. Therefore, following the abolition of slavery, it was decided that the slaves should work on the former plantations for 10 years for a minimum wage. The decree on the abolition of slavery was adopted in 1863. After that, the freed slaves were faced with the need to feed themselves and their families and poured into Paramaribo, where labor was better paid and it was possible to get an education. There they replenished the middle Creole layer of society, becoming servants, workers, merchants, and their descendants - even elementary school teachers and petty officials. At the end of the 19th century some Creoles moved into the interior of the country, where they engaged in gold mining and rubber collection. In the 1920s, Creoles found work in bauxite mines, and also emigrated to Curaçao (where they worked at oil refineries), the Netherlands and the USA.

In search of labor for the plantations, the colonial authorities began to recruit residents of Asian countries under the contract. In the period 1853-1873, 2.5 thousand Chinese were brought to Suriname, in 1873-1922 - 34 thousand Indians, in 1891-1939 - 33 thousand Indonesians. The descendants of these migrants now make up the majority of Suriname's population. During the Second World War, there were many American soldiers in Suriname, along with them, capital appeared to serve the US military bases.

For a long time, Suriname was governed by a governor appointed by the metropolis. Under him, there were two councils elected by local electors and approved by the Dutch authorities. In 1866, these councils were replaced by parliament, but the governor retained the right to veto any decisions of this body. Initially, a strict property and educational qualification was in effect to participate in the elections, but as it was softened, planters began to penetrate the parliament, and after 1900 the majority in it was already made up of representatives of the upper and middle strata of Creole society. However, the electorate did not exceed 2% of the population until 1949, when universal suffrage was introduced.

In 1954 Suriname received autonomy within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. At the same time, the metropolis still appointed the governor and controlled the defense and foreign policy of the country, and the Surinamese elected the parliament and government.

After 1949, the Creoles gained great influence in parties organized along ethnic lines. They formed a coalition with the Indonesians, who also supported the independence of Suriname, won the 1973 elections and formed a government led by Prime Minister Henk Arron, leader of the National Party of Suriname (NPS). Negotiations with the Netherlands were successful, and on November 25, 1975, the independence of Suriname was proclaimed. After that ok. 40,000 Asian Surinamese emigrated to the Netherlands. The former metropolis pledged to provide financial assistance to the young state in the amount of $ 1.5 billion within 15 years. Before independence, two more political parties formed in Suriname: the Indian Progressive Reform Party and the Indonesian National Unity and Solidarity Party.

Arron, re-elected in 1977, was accused of corruption and removed from his post in 1980 in a military coup by a group of army officers led by Lieutenant Colonel Desi Bouterse. The National Military Council came to power, which dissolved parliament by February 1982, repealed the constitution, and dismissed the last representative of the civilian government, President Henk Chin Ah Sen. The latter, together with thousands of Surinamese, emigrated to the Netherlands, where, in order to fight the dictatorial regime, he formed the Movement for the Liberation of Suriname. The economic crisis was added to the political crisis, caused by the fall in world prices for bauxite. Economic losses were only partly compensated by money transfers from emigrants to their homeland.

After the military tortured and killed 15 known citizens of the country, the Netherlands stopped financial assistance to Suriname. Under domestic and international pressure, the National Military Council in 1985 authorized the formation of a new parliament and lifted the ban on political parties. After that, Arron entered the National War Council, renamed the Supreme Council.

In July 1986, with the support of the Movement for the Liberation of Suriname, several hundred lightly armed "forest blacks" revolted in the south and east of the country. Led by Ronnie Brunswijk, Bouterse's former personal bodyguard, they formed the Surinamese Liberation Army, designed to restore constitutional order to the country. Within a few months, they destabilized the work of bauxite mines and oil refineries. Bouterse accused the government of the Netherlands and Surinamese emigrants, among others, of aiding the rebels, which led to the rupture of diplomatic relations between Suriname and the Netherlands in early 1987. The Surinamese army tried to suppress the uprising with cruel measures, often violating the rights of its own citizens and foreigners. This policy caused widespread discontent, and the population demanded reforms. In a referendum in September 1987, 93% of voters voted in favor of the new constitution.

In the November 1987 parliamentary elections, representatives of the Bouterse party received only three seats out of 51, while the multi-ethnic Front for Democracy and Development received 40 seats. In January 1988, Ramsevak Shankar, a businessman of Indian origin, became president, and Arron became vice president and prime minister. Bouterse retained some power as head of the five-member Military Council. Shankar's policy was aimed at improving relations with the Netherlands and the United States. The Netherlands again began to provide assistance to Suriname, promising to pay 721 million dollars over 7-8 years. Bauxite mining resumed.

However, in December 1990 the military removed the civilian government and dissolved the National Assembly. Under pressure from the world community, the military was forced in May 1991 to hold elections with the participation of international observers. In these elections, a coalition called the New Front for Democracy, which included three traditional ethnic parties, the Front for Democracy and Development and the Labor Party of Suriname, gained 30 votes in parliament. In September, Ronald R. Venetian, candidate of the National Party of Suriname, took over as president; the leader of the Indian Progressive Reform Party, Yul R. Ayodiya, became Vice President and Prime Minister. Colonel Bauterse remained commander-in-chief of the army.

In August 1992, Venetian reached peace agreements with the Surinamese Liberation Army rebels. Bouterse was replaced as commander-in-chief by Arti Gorre. In the first half of the 1990s, Suriname, along with some other Latin American countries, embarked on the path of liberal economic reforms. Venetian managed to curb inflation and improve relations with the Netherlands, which increased financial aid to Suriname and investment in the economy. However, trade union opposition and the collapse of the New Front coalition led to Venetian's defeat in the May 1996 elections. Indonesian parties and with a number of small parties approved their candidate Weidenbosch as president. At the same time, the coalition turned out to be rather weak, and in 1997-1998 the new government was unable to put its legislative program into effect. Behind Weidenbosch stood Bouterse. Under him, Suriname became the main transshipment base for drugs on the way from Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia to the Netherlands and the United States. The police were led by Bouterse's closest associate, Colonel Etienne Burenveen, who was convicted in Miami in the 1980s and served five years in prison for dealing cocaine. Another Bouterse employee, Henk Goodschalk, became head of the Central Bank of Suriname. In August 1998, at the request of the Dutch government, Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Bouterse on charges of drug dealing and financial fraud. President Jules Weidenbosch commits many serious economic and political mistakes and leads Suriname to a state of complete instability. Allegations of corruption against this president are not unfounded.

Suriname in the 21st century

In the elections held on May 25, 2000, the New Front won. In August 2000, Ronald Venetian was elected President of Suriname for the second time. He was to restore economic stability and increase foreign investment in the country. Jules Ajodia became prime minister.

Ronald Venetian inherited from his predecessor a devalued currency, high inflation, a collapsing healthcare system, and a bloated bureaucracy. Urgent and emergency measures were taken to curb inflation and stabilize the exchange rate. The government of Ronald Venetian managed to cut government spending and stabilize the banana industry with the help of international loans.

In August 2005, Ronald Venetian was re-elected President of Suriname. Although neither Venetian nor his new political rival, Rabindra Parmessar, received enough votes in Parliament to become president, the candidacy of Ronald Venetian was left to the discretion of the regional bodies. 560 deputies out of 879 voted for him.