Source: MAPS IN MINUTES™ © RH Publications (1997)

A country on the north-east coast of South America, known until 1948 as Dutch Guiana.

Physical

Suriname is sandwiched between Guyana and French Guiana, with Brazil to the south. The climate is equatorial. Thick forest covers most of the interior, which rises to highlands in the centre. Rice and sugar cane can be grown on the coast.

Economy

The extraction of alumina, gold, and oil dominates Suriname’s economy, with these three commodities accounting for five-sixths of exports. The economy was badly hit by the closure of Suriname's alumina refinery. Lumber, fish, rice, and bananas are also exported. Suriname is also one of the main drug transit routes to the Netherlands.

History

Suriname’s name is taken from the name of its earliest inhabitants, the Surinen, who had been driven out of the area by other South American Indians by the time Europeans arrived. Suriname was claimed by Spain in 1593 but was colonized by the Dutch from the beginning of the 17th century. The territory alternated between British and Dutch control until the Netherlands received it in a treaty settlement of 1815. In the 17th century African slaves had begun to be imported. By the late 19th century plantation labour was recruited from India and Java. The ethnic diversity of Suriname resulted in increasing racial and political strife after World War II. In 1954 Suriname became an equal partner in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and full independence was granted in 1975. After several years of party strife the military took over in 1980 and Sergeant Desiré Bouterse became Suriname’s de facto ruler. In 1986 an extended guerrilla protest by the Surinamese Liberation Army (SLA) was launched, organized from the jungle in neighbouring French Guyanne. In 1988 civilian rule was restored, following elections, but the military retained great influence. In 1990 a new military coup was staged, but in 1991 a coalition of opposition parties, the New Front for Democracy and Development, led by Ronald Venetiaan, won elections. A peace agreement with the SLA was made in 1992. Drug trafficking, gun-running, and money laundering all remained problems. After elections in 1996 a new coalition government led by the National Democratic Party was formed, and Jules Wijdenbosch was elected President. However, Venetiaan was again elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2005. In 2010 Bouterse was elected President, despite being on trial for murders committed by his military regime in 1982; he was re-elected in 2015. By this time the economy was in serious trouble. Financial support from the IMF was agreed in June 2016, amid demonstrations protesting at some of the IMF’s requirements.