interesting info on suriname (post 1)

Suriname, country located on the northern coast of South America. Suriname is one of the smallest countries in South America, yet its population is one of the most ethnically diverse in the region. Its economy is dependent on its extensive supply of natural resources, most notably bauxite, of which it is one of the top producers in the world. The southern four-fifths of the country is almost entirely covered with pristine tropical rainforest. Formerly known as Dutch Guiana, Suriname was a plantation colony of the Netherlands that gained its independence on November 25, 1975. From 1980 to 1987 the country was governed by a succession of military regimes. A new civilian constitution was approved in 1987. Another military coup took place in 1990, but the country returned to civilian rule the following year. The capital, Paramaribo, lies 9 miles (15 km) from the Atlantic Ocean on the Suriname River. Suriname’s major rivers flow northward into the Atlantic. They include the Courantyne, which forms part of the boundary with Guyana; the Coppename; the Suriname; and the Maroni, which forms part of the border with French Guiana. Suriname’s most fertile soils occur in the inundated lands reclaimed by diking and drainage (polders), which are principally in the New Coastal Plain. South Asians, descendants of contract laborers from India, are the largest ethnic group in Suriname, making up more than one-fourth of the population. The second major ethnic group, accounting for about one-fifth of the population, is the Maroons (descendants of escaped slaves of African origin). Creoles, who in Suriname are people of mainly African descent, constitute between one-tenth and one-fifth of the population. The descendants of Javanese (people from the island of Java in Indonesia) contract laborers and people of mixed ethnicity each make up almost one-seventh of the population.

Dutch is the official language of Suriname, but the extent to which members of the various ethnic groups are able to use the language differs. Most of the population learns Dutch as a second language. Additional languages include Sranan and other creole languages; English; Sarnami, which originated from Hindi and Urdu; Javanese; and a number of Maroon and South American Indian languages.