Suriname - Tourism and Travel

The Republic of Suriname is a country in South America, on the Atlantic coast.

It has an area of 63,251 square miles (163,820 square kilometers).

Suriname has a swampy coastal plain. There are plateaus in the center of the country.

Southern Suriname has highlands.

Suriname has tropical climate.

More than four fifths of Suriname is covered in tropical rainforest.

The Guiana Shield, which lies beneath Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana and parts of Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia is one of the Earth's oldest land surfaces. It is believed to have been formed over four billion years ago.

Chemical weathering of the Guiana Shield over millions of years has created a landscape of table mountains with flat tops and solitary hills known as inselbergs.

The capital of Suriname is Paramaribo.

520,000 people live in Suriname.

Most of them live along the coast.

34% of the people are South Asian, 18% are Javanese, 9% are black and 34% are mixed race.

Dutch is the official language. Other languages spoken include Sranan, Sarnami Hindi, Javanese, Chinese, Carib and Saramaccan.

27% of the population is Hindu, 25% is Protestant, 23% is Roman Catholic and 20% is Muslim.

The main industry is bauxite mining.

Alumina and aluminum are the primary exports.

Other exports include timber, sugar, shrimp, rice and bananas.

Political instability and violence associate with the drug trade have discouraged Suriname's economic advancement.

Suriname has a parliamentary system of government.

The official currency of Suriname is the Surinamese dollar, which is equal to 100 cents.