Frequently Asked Questions

 

POPULATION

436,494 (July 2002 est.)

• Hindustani 37% (came as workers from India)

• Creole (mixed white and black) 31%
• Javanese 15% (came as workers from Indonesia)

"Maroons" (their African ancestors were brought to the country in the 17th and 18th centuries as slaves and escaped to the interior) 10%,

• Amerindian 2%,
• Chinese 2%,
• White 1% (descendants of the 19th century Dutch farmers-settlers)
• Other 2%

Land of many peoples...

 

LANGUAGES

Dutch is the national language, spoken by most.

Akurio, Arawak, Aucan, Carib, Chinese, Duth, French Creole, Guyanese Creole English, Sarnami Hindi, Surinamese Javanese, Kwinti, Ndyuka-Trio pidgin, Portuguese, Saramaccan, Sranan, Trio, Warao, Wayana.

 

LOCATION

On the northern coast of South America, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the North, Guyana to the West, French Guiana to the East and Brazil to the South.

          

 

CURRENCY

SRF, Surinamese guilder

Surinamese guilders per US dollar - 2,178.50 (2001)

 

CLIMATE

Tropical, moderated by trade winds.

 

RELIGION

 

A brief look :

 

Hindu 27.4%,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muslim 19.6%,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roman Catholic 22.8%,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian),

indigenous beliefs 5%,

Jewish