GeoPointe - Suriname

Official Name: Republic of Suriname
Location: Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana.
Capital: Paramaribo

Area:	total: 163,270 sq km
	land: 161,470 sq km
	water: 1,800 sq km

Lowest point: unnamed location in the coastal plain -2 m
Highest point: Juliana Top 1,230 m

Aerial view of a rainforest in Suriname, South America

More pictures	Purchase this poster

Population: 470,784 (July 2007 est.)
Nationality: Surinamer(s)
Ethnic groups: Hindustani (also known locally as East Indians; their ancestors emigrated from northern India in the latter part of the 19th century) 37%, Creole (mixed white and black) 31%, Javanese 15%, Maroons (their African ancestors were brought to the country in the 17th and 18th centuries as slaves and escaped to the interior) 10%, Amerindian 2%, Chinese 2%, white 1%, other 2%.
Religions: Hindu 27.4%, Muslim 19.6%, Roman Catholic 22.8%, Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian), 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.

Tropical, moderated by trade winds.

Government type: Constitutional democracy.
Independence: 25 November 1975 (from the Netherlands).
National holiday: Independence Day, 25 November (1975).