Suriname (country)

C

Environmental Issues

The government of Suriname has set aside some land for nature reserves. However, lack of funding limits effective management of the system. The Central Suriname Nature Reserve, created in 1998, covers 1.6 million hectares (nearly 4 million acres) of tropical forest.

Deforestation by the timber industry is a growing environmental problem. The most pressing issue in Suriname is the proposed sale of vast tracts of virgin forest—up to 40 percent of the nation's land—to logging companies from Southeast Asia. The government wants to use profits from forest resources to offset rapidly increasing inflation and unemployment. Environmentalists, on the other hand, are encouraging ecotourism as an alternative industry and pushing for sustainable forest use.

III

People

With a population of 470,784 (2007 estimate), Suriname has fewer people than any other South American country. Its population density of 3 persons per sq km (8 per sq mi) is one of the lowest in the world. More than half the country’s people live in Paramaribo (population, 2000 estimate, 294,000), the country’s capital, largest city, and chief seaport. The interior of the country is extremely sparsely settled.

Suriname’s population is ethnically diverse. The main ethnic groups are Asian Indians (Hindus), who make up about 37 percent of the population, and Creoles, who are of African or mixed African and European ancestry and make up about 31 percent of the population. There are also sizable communities of Indonesians (15 percent); Maroons, descendants of blacks who escaped slavery long ago by moving to the interior (10 percent); Native Americans, descendants of indigenous tribes (3 percent); Chinese (2 percent); and Europeans (1 percent). Many Surinamese people emigrated to the Netherlands after independence and after a military dictatorship came to power in Suriname from 1980. Others went to the Netherlands in pursuit of educational and employment opportunities.

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Ethnic groups in Suriname compete for economic and political power, and certain jobs have tended to be the province of particular ethnic groups. Within the small upper class, ethnic groups mingle freely. Within other classes, ethnic groups tend to remain separate and follow their own traditions. The Creoles are broadly divided into a small upper class composed of Dutch-educated professionals and senior government workers, and a large lower class composed primarily of semiskilled and unskilled workers. The East Indians long dominated agriculture but increasingly entered urban occupations in the last half of the 20th century. They now compete with other ethnic groups in all spheres of the economy. The Javanese work mainly as farm laborers. The Chinese are engaged mainly in urban retail trades and belong largely to the middle and upper classes. The Maroons and Native Americans live largely in the undeveloped interior of the country.

A

Language and Religion

Suriname’s ethnic diversity is apparent in the varied languages its people speak. The official language of Suriname is Dutch, but most of the people speak Sranang Tongo, a Creole language. Also known as Taki-Taki, Sranang Tongo includes elements of several languages and is the vehicle for most interethnic communication. Other languages spoken in Suriname include Hindi, Javanese, Chinese, English, and French. Small numbers of Native Americans still speak indigenous languages.

The main religions in Suriname are Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. The majority of Christians are Roman Catholics, and members of the Moravian Church predominate among Protestants. East Indians are predominantly Hindu, although they include some Muslims. Most of the Muslims in Suriname are of Indonesian descent.

B

Education

School attendance is required for Surinamese children aged 6 to 12, and 64,852 attended primary school in 2000. The literacy rate is 94.2 percent. Suriname has one university, the Anton de Kom University of Suriname, which was founded in Paramaribo in 1968.

IV

Economy

Economic development in Suriname has been hindered by the small population, the difficulty of reaching the interior, and the military and political unrest of the 1980s. Bauxite is the mainstay of the economy, and the mining and processing of it into alumina and aluminum is the major source of income. Bauxite, alumina, and aluminum also are the chief exports, with the result that Suriname’s economy is vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for these products. The United States aluminum company ALCOA operates in Suriname and in the early 2000s announced plans to expand its operations there.

Suriname also has deposits of gold, iron ore, manganese, copper, and other minerals, but these remain largely unexploited. The country uses most of the petroleum it produces. Other products manufactured in Suriname include food and beverages, tobacco products, construction materials, and clothing. Most of the manufacturing industries use local materials.

Agriculture is confined mainly to the coastal plains, but the river valleys and savanna of the interior offer great potential for expansion. Rice is Suriname’s chief crop, and about half of the country’s farmland is used for growing rice. Sugarcane was for centuries the mainstay of the economy but is now relatively unimportant. Other crops include bananas and plantains, oil palms, and citrus fruits. Shrimp fishing is expanding along the coast, and shrimps contribute to the country’s export income.