Suriname

total:

0.67 cu km/yr (6%/4%/90%)

per capita:

1,396 cu m/yr (2006)

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• smallest independent country on South American continent;
• mostly tropical rain forest;
• great diversity of flora and fauna that, for the most part, is increasingly threatened by new development;
• relatively small population, mostly along the coast

noun:

Surinamer(s)

adjective:

Surinamese

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.77 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease:

dengue fever and malaria (2013)

total number:

6,094

percentage:

6 % (2006 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Suriname

conventional short form:

Suriname

local long form:

Republiek Suriname

local short form:

Suriname

former:

Netherlands Guiana, Dutch Guiana

name:

Paramaribo

geographic coordinates:

5 50 N, 55 10 W

time difference:

UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• previous 1975;
• latest ratified 30 September 1987, effective 30 October 1987;
• amended 1992;
• note - in 2012, the president appointed a commission to revise the constitution (2012)

chief of state:

• President Desire Delano BOUTERSE (since 12 August 2010);
• Vice President Robert AMEERALI (since 12 August 2010);
• note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Desire Delano BOUTERSE (since 12 August 2010); Vice President Robert AMEERALI (since 12 August 2010)

cabinet:

Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• president and vice president elected by the National Assembly or, if no presidential or vice presidential candidate receives a two-thirds constitutional majority in the National Assembly after two votes, by a simple majority in the larger United People's Assembly (893 representatives from the national, local, and regional councils), for five-year terms (no term limits);
• election last held on 19 July 2010 (next to be held in 2015)

election results:

Desire Delano BOUTERSE elected president; percent of vote - Desire Delano BOUTERSE 70.6%, Chandrikapersad SATOKHI 25.5%, other 3.9%

• Association of Indigenous Village Chiefs [Ricardo PANE]
• Association of Saramaccan Authorities or Maroon [Head Captain WASE]
• Women's Parliament Forum or PVF [Iris GILLIAD]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Subhas-Chandra MUNGRA (since 28 January 2011)

chancery:

Suite 460, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 244-7488

FAX:

[1] (202) 244-5878

consulate(s) general:

Miami

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jay N. ANANIA (since 1 October 2012)

embassy:

Dr. Sophie Redmondstraat 129, Paramaribo

mailing address:

US Department of State, PO Box 1821, Paramaribo

telephone:

[597] 472-900

FAX:

[597] 410-972

• five horizontal bands of green (top, double width), white, red (quadruple width), white, and green (double width);
• a large, yellow, five-pointed star is centered in the red band;
• red stands for progress and love;
• green symbolizes hope and fertility;
• white signifies peace, justice, and freedom;
• the star represents the unity of all ethnic groups;
• from its yellow light the nation draws strength to bear sacrifices patiently while working toward a golden future

name:

"God zij met ons Suriname!" (God Be With Our Suriname)

lyrics/music:

Cornelis Atses HOEKSTRA and Henry DE ZIEL/Johannes Corstianus DE PUY

note: adopted 1959; the anthem, originally adapted from a Sunday school song written in 1893, contains lyrics in both Dutch and Sranang Tongo

• rice, bananas, palm kernels, coconuts, plantains, peanuts;
• beef, chickens;
• shrimp;
• forest products

agriculture:

8%

industry:

14%

services:

78% (2004)

lowest 10%:

NA%

highest 10%:

NA%

general assessment:

international facilities are good

domestic:

combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity 185 telephones per 100 persons; microwave radio relay network

international:

country code - 597; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2010)

• 2 state-owned TV stations;
• 1 state-owned radio station;
• multiple private radio and TV stations (2007)

total:

4,304 km

country comparison to the world: 154

paved:

1,130 km

unpaved:

3,174 km (2003)

• 18 is the legal minimum age for voluntary military service;
• no conscription;
• personnel drawn almost exclusively from the Creole community (2012)

males age 16-49:

134,218

females age 16-49:

134,439 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

109,445

females age 16-49:

112,538 (2010 est.)

male:

4,119

female:

4,106 (2010 est.)

• area claimed by French Guiana between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa);
• Suriname claims a triangle of land between the New and Kutari/Koetari rivers in a historic dispute over the headwaters of the Courantyne;
• Guyana seeks United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea arbitration to resolve the longstanding dispute with Suriname over the axis of the territorial sea boundary in potentially oil-rich waters

current situation:

• Suriname is a source, destination, and transit country for women, men, and children who are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor;
• women and girls from Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic are subjected to sex trafficking in the country, sometimes around mining camps;
• debt bondage and sex trafficking are reported to occur within the Chinese migrant community;
• migrant workers in agriculture and on fishing boats and children working in informal urban sectors and gold mines are vulnerable to forced labor

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Suriname does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• the government has prosecuted an increased number of sex trafficking cases and identified an increased number of child sex trafficking victims;
• accountability for trafficking offenses continues to be a problem as no offenders have been convicted and the complicity of local officials remains a concern;
• authorities do not have a formal system for referring victims to NGOs that provide services but reported doing so on an ad hoc basis;
• the government's interagency anti-trafficking working group drafted an anti-trafficking policy in 2012 (2013)