Suriname also referred to as ‘the beating heart of the Amazon’ is next to Brazil, Guyana en French Guyana with Paramaribo as the capital, ‘The wooden city’. The city is located at the west side of the Suriname River, about 23 km from the sea. Paramaribo is a remarkable hybrid of modern and colonial architecture. This beauty and historical value of the colonial architecture was the reason that Paramaribo was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2002.

Facts

• Population: 495.000.
• Surface: 165.000 km² of which over 80% is covered by tropical rainforest.
• Location: 2-60 NB, 54-58 WL.
• Capital: Paramaribo (245.000 inhabitants).
• Language: the official language is Dutch. Most people understand and speak English.
  Each ethnic group speaks its own language. The common language is Sranan Tongo.
• Ethnic groups: 35% East Indian, 32% Creoles, 14% Javanese, 10% maroons and other the indigenous, Chinese, Lebanese, Brazilians en Europeans.
• Religion: 27% Hindu, 25% Protestant. 23% Roman Catholic, 20% Muslim and 5% other religions.
• Districts: Suriname is divided into 10 districts. Paramaribo, Wanica, Saramacca, Sipaliwini , Para, Coronie, Marowijne, Brokopondo, Commewijne en Nickerie.
• Time zone: Time in Suriname is 2 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (EST) in the USA and 3 hours before Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in Europe.
• Suriname is member of the Caricom since the 4th of July 1995.
• Cllimate: Average temperatures between 23-32 degrees Celsius.
• 25th of November 1975 Suriname became independent from the Netherlands
• Money: the official currency is Surinamese Dollar (1 US$ = 2.75 SRD).

Money
The official currency since the 1st of January 2004 is the Surinamese Dollar, better known as the SRD. The bank rate of exchange is fixed at SRD 2.75 to one US dollar. All over the country you can pay with SRD except hotels, car rental companies and airway companies.

At some retail stores and restaurants prices are stated in Euro or USD. Although you can pay in SRD at the daily exchange rate. You can exchange your money at any cambio, there is a lot al over Paramaribo city. Credit card is not very common in Suriname but you can use it for most hotels and car rental Companies.

Culture

Groups
Suriname is an example to the world when it comes to ethnic and social integration, the fact that a mosque and a synagogue are build next to each other symbolizes this.
The Amerindians, the indigenous, of Suriname have long been divided into two categories: the coastal tribes; the Caribs and the Arowaks and the interior tribes: the trios, the Wajanas and the Akurios. The coastal tribes are more adjusted to modern life than the interior tribes but a lot of their traditional values are still preserved.

The maroons are the direct descendants of Africans brought to Suriname during the 17th century, primarily from West Africa, for the express purpose of enslavement. There are six tribes of maroons: Aucaners (Ndjuka), Saramaka, Paramaka, Matawai, Boni (Aluku) and kwinti. Each of these tribes has managed to successfully maintain their African-based culture. Today still a great part of the maroons live in villages scattered along the rivers of the interior.East Indians were brought to Surinam after the abolition of slavery as contractors to work at the plantations.

Javanese were also shipped to Suriname after the East Indians. For the Dutch it was eventually easier and cheaper to get Javanese contractors for the plantations because they were shipped from a Dutch Colony (Indonesia). Till 1938 Javanese were brought to Suriname. Other groups are the creoles, Lebanese, Chinese, Boeroes (Old Europeans), Brazilians and other Europeans.