Suriname

 Welcome to the beautiful country of Suriname. This video shows some of the traits and attributes of this cultural and diverse country. Although it is small, it has a big impact on the rest of South America and the World.

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Culture

This is a great website for the culture of Suriname. To see it [|Click Here]

Suriname is a very diverse land. The culture of Suriname is largely based off of the Dutch culture because the Dutch colonized Suriname. In Suriname about 20 languages are spoken, but there are many more. Dutch and Sranantongo are the two mainly spoken languages in Suriname. Sranantongo is the language that was spoken between masters and servants. It has many elements of African, Portuguese, and Dutch. Their flag represents many things. The red represents patriotism, green is fertility, and white is justice and peace. In the center of the red band the is a yellow star representing national unity and a “golden future”. The five points on the star refer to the five continents and the five major population groups. Another symbol in Suriname is their national anthem. Based off of a late 19th century Dutch song. Their national dish is chicken and rice. At parties they serve a lot of food. Especially during Bigi Yari. In Paramaribo, Javanese and Chinese cuisine and restaurants are popular. In the countryside, breakfast consists of rice (for the Javanese), roti (Hindustani), or bread (Creoles). Most houses have a square brick foundation, white wooden walls, a high gabled roof, and green shutters. Most marriages are normal, but there are mixed marriages. There many different types of marriages in Suriname because the culture is so diverse. There are three main religions, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.



This is one of the many cultural dances in Suriname. This is called the Javaans Dans. It reflects their culture through many graceful movements. media type="youtube" key="v6rPzvOA4rg" height="385" width="640"

This is another dance called the Naks Wan Rutu Tapu Kromanti (Winti) dance. It is a surinamese/african dance. It shows the tribes coming together from West Africa after forced migration. media type="youtube" key="hMb-_Meyqms" height="385" width="480"

Suriname is a Constitutional Democracy. Their President is Ronald Venetiann. Ajodhia Jules Rattankoemar is their Vice President. There dominant party is the Democrats. There are 10 administrative sub divisions. Suriname has three branches of government, Legislative, Judicial, and Executive. They work the same way as the branches in the U.S.A. Government. The judiciary branch is a court of Judges; this court supervises the magistrate courts. The Legislative branch is a group of 51 political members that vote on laws. The Executive branch is the branch that has the president and can veto laws. The President serves a 5 year term. The political parties in Suriname are the National Party of Suriname, the Proggresive Reform Party, and many smaller parties.
 * Government **

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 * Geography**

 Suriname is the smallest independent country in South America. The total area is 163,270sq km, the area of the water is 1,800sq km, and the area of the land is 161,470 sq km. Suriname is slightly larger than Georgia. The border countries are French Guiana, Guyana, and Brazil. The climate is tropical and moderate by trade winds. Suriname has mostly rolling hills, coastal plains with swamps, and tropical rain forests. Population- 438,144

Ethnic Groups- Hindustani 37%, Creole 31%, Javanese 15%, Maroons 10%, Amerindian 2%, Chinese 2%, Other 3%.

Religions- Hindu 27.4%, Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian), Roman Catholic 22.8%, Muslim 19.6%, indigenous beliefs 5%.

Languages- Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others), Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese.

Natural Resources: Timber, hydropower potential, fish, shrimp, bauxite, iron ore, and small amounts of nickel, copper, platinum, and gold There is great diversity of flora and fauna. Flora and fauna of Suriname are so common because 80% of Suriname comes under the tropical rain forest and it’s more than in any part of Central America. Suriname has many different species of flowers and water lilies. Orchids are the most popular flower. The Suriname rain forests have 180 different species of mammals and the variety of reptiles in these forest are tortoise, caiman, iguana and various snakes. White Egret is the most common and popular bird in the suriname rain forest. Suriname has always attracted scientist all over the world because of species like blue poison, dart frog, cock-of -the -rock. Suriname has also been the travelers’ attraction and it’s due to the rare but very pleasant combination of Suriname flora and fauna.

 For more Suriname nature pictures c [|lick here]

History- __From the Beginning__- The first inhabitants of Suriname were the Surinen Indian tribe. Suriname got its name from this tribe. The tribe lived mostly on fish and animals in the area. Many of them were nomads. In the 16th century the Dutch, English, and Spanish had explored and settled in this country. The Dutch and English traded many goods and crops found in Suriname. In 1667 Suriname became a Dutch colony. It was very hard for the Dutch to settle there with security, because there were many Indian attacks. This new colony did not last very long; many researchers think it is because of many reasons such as the ones shown below. __ Reasons the Colony did not thrive __ · There was a lot of conflict between whites and natives. · Most of the crops for the civilians to buy were expensive. · The slaves were treated with much cruelty. __Slaves__ – Most slaves were treated with harsh cruelty. This caused most of the slaves to run away from the colony. Many of the slaves fled to the jungle. The slaves who stayed on the plantations had outnumbered the Dutch. In the Caribbean area Suriname had a bad name with respect for slaves. On July 1, 1863 the Dutch were the last Europeans to abolish slavery. Ten years before the plantation owners started to import slaves from other continents. __Important People__ Dr. Ronald Venetiaan is the President of Suriname. His career has been very shaky. In 1991 he was elected for his first term, again in 2000 he was chosen, and in 2005 he was elected for his third term. Because he has been elected three times, he is probably going to be elected yet again. COOL FACT- Venetiaan means Venice in English.

Battle of Suriname wasn’t taken place in Suriname but was a battle for control of the Suriname colony. On May 5, 1804 a British battle squad, under the control of Sir Samuel Hood, took control of the Suriname colony. The Suriname Guerrilla War was a battle during 1982-1988. Many of the leaders of Suriname were murdered. Suriname’s eastern area in 1986 had increased in rebel resistance under Ronnie Brunsjwick. Ronnie was a former bodyguard of Bouterse. This resulted in “Declared State Emergency” in December. In 1989 Bouterse refused to accept the conditions of a peace treaty signed by Ronnie and Suriname’s representative in Kourou. __Independence-__ In 1973 the Suriname NPK government started to make a deal with the Dutch. This deal included the independence of Suriname. On November 25, 1975 the declaration of independence of Suriname was achieved. The Netherlands were financially supporting this new democracy led by Dr. John Ferrier. After ten years the total amount given was four billion Dutch guilders. Many civilians did not have much confidence in their new government, so they eventually fled to the Netherlands.

Citations- __ Suriname History, Geography, Culture __. 2009 Info Please. 5-17-10 . __ Suriname __. 2007 Creative Commons. 5-14-10 . __ History Of Suriname __. 2005 History Of The Nations. 5-19-10 . __ Suriname History __. 2009 History Central. 5-10-10 .


 * __Economy__**

The economy is basically just a mining industry, with exports of alumina, gold, and oil which makes up about 85% of exports and 25% of government revenues, making the economy highly vulnerable to mineral price instability. In 2000, the government of Ronald Venetiaan, returned to office and inherited an economy with price rises of over 100% and a growing financial shortage. He quickly applied an austerity program, raised taxes, attempted to control spending, and tamed inflation. Economic growth reached about 6% in 2007 and 2008, owing to sizeable foreign investment in mining and oil. Suriname has received aid for projects in the bauxite and gold mining sectors from Netherlands, Belgium, and the European Development Fund. The economy contracted in 2009, however, as investment waned and the country earned less from its commodity exports when global prices for most commodities fell. As trade picks up, Suriname's economic outlook for 2010 has improved, but the government's financial plan is likely to remain tense, with increased social spending in this election year. Suriname's economic prospects for the standard term will depend on continued commitment to responsible financial and economic policies and to the introduction of structural reforms to loosen markets and encourage competition. The main crops in Suriname are paddy rice, bananas, palm kernels, coconuts, plantains, peanuts, beef, chickens, forest products, and shrimp. The natural resources are lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron, and petroleum. The major industries are bauxite and gold mining, alumina and aluminum production, lumbering, food processing, and fishing.

The strength of Suriname's economy is in the exports of alumina and the small amounts of aluminum produced from bauxite mined in the country. In 1999, the aluminum smeltering industry was closed. However, alumina exports accounted for 72% of Suriname's estimated export earnings of $496.6 million in 2001. Suriname's bauxite deposits have been among the world's richest. Cheap power costs are Suriname's big advantage in the energy-intensive alumina and aluminum business. Suriname exports rice, shrimp, timber, bananas, fruits, and vegetables. Gold mining is not regulated by the government, and is an important part of the casual economy. In January 2002, the current government negotiated again the civil servant wages (a significant part of the work force and a significant portion of government spending), agreeing to raises as high as 100%. Pending implementation of these wage increases and concerned that the government may be unable to meet these increased expenses, the local currency weakened from Sf 2200 in January 2002 to nearly Sf 2500 in April 2002. On March 26, 2003, the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) adjusted the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar. This action resulted in further reduction of the Surinamese guilder. The official exchange rate of the $U.S. is SF 2,650 for selling and SF 2,600 for purchasing. With the official exchange rate, the CBvS came closer to the exchange rate on the parallel markets which sell the U.S. dollar for SF 3,250.

Information gotten from Google and Wiki.