Justitia - Pietas - Fides (Latin) ("Justice - Mercy - Faith") | ||||||
Capital (and largest city) |
Paramaribo | |||||
Language Official |
Dutch | |||||
Others | Sranan Tongo | |||||
Religion Main |
Protestantism | |||||
Others | Traditional beliefs | |||||
Demonym | Surinamese | |||||
Established | 26 February 1667 |
Surinam, also unofficially known as Dutch Guiana (Dutch: Nederlands Guiana), is a colony of the Netherlands. It is the only Dutch possession in the South American continent, and it is bordered by French Guiana to its east, the Caribbean Sea to its north, British Guiana to its west and Brazil to its south. Only the northernmost part of the country, characterized by lowlands and cultivated fields, is densely inhabited, while the southern part of the country is occupied by a thick rainforest.
Surinam was conquered and settled by the Dutch over the course of the 17th and 18th century, becoming an important hub of trade. Today, it exists as colony of the Netherlands, and it is granted a representation in the country's government comparable to that of metropolitan Dutch provinces. The population is highly diverse and ethnically mixed: the most important groups are descendants of Dutch settlers, mixed race people, and maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves who mixed and merged with indigenous Carib populations. Dutch is spoken by almost all the population, but Sranan Tongo, a creole language, is also widely used.