Suriname is located on the northeast coast of South
America with the North Atlantic Ocean to its north.
It shares borders with French Guiana to its east, Brazil to
its south and Guyana to
its west. Suriname is slightly larger than the U.S.
state of Georgia. The capital of Suriname is Paramaribo
which is located on the coast. The currency is the
Suriname dollar.
Suriname is the smallest independent country in South America and has a constitutional democracy form of government. The president and vice president are elected by the National Assembly. If, after two votes, no presidential or vice presidential candidate has received a two-thirds majority, the vote devolves to the United People's Assembly where a simple majority vote will elect the president and/or vice president. They are elected to five year terms and there are no term limitations.
The 2007 estimate of the population is 470,784 with a population growth rate of 1.1 percent. The current life expectancy is 73.23 years with women outliving men by five and a half years.
Dutch is the official language of Suriname although English is widely spoken. Other languages used in the country are Sranang Tongo, Caribbean Hindustani, and Javanese. The country has an 88 percent literacy rate of people over the age of 15. There is no majority religion; the major religions of the country are Hinduism, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism and Muslim.
Suriname consists primarily of rain forests which are threatened with deforestation. The majority of its population live along the coast.
Web Sites
Catalog
Search the library's catalog for Suriname.
Databases
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