Suriname

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:

0.96 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.76 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

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

etymology:

name may derive from the indigenous "Surinen" people who inhabited the area at the time of European contact

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 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Suriname

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

• President Desire Delano BOUTERSE (since 12 August 2010);
• Vice President Ashwin ADHIN (since 12 August 2015);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

President Desire Delano BOUTERSE (since 12 August 2010); Vice President Ashwin ADHIN (since 12 August 2015)

cabinet:

Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president and vice president indirectly elected by the National Assembly;
• president and vice president serve a 5-year term (no term limits);
• election last held on 25 May 2015 (next to be held on 25 May 2020)

election results:

Desire Delano BOUTERSE reelected president; National Assembly vote - NA

highest resident court(s):

• High Court of Justice of Suriname (consists of the court president, vice president, and 4 judges);
• note - appeals beyond the High Court are referred to the Caribbean Court of Justice, with final appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London)

judge selection and term of office:

court judges appointed by the national president after consultation with the High Court; judges appointed for life

subordinate courts:

cantonal courts

• Alternative Combination or A-Com (a coalition that includes ABOP, KTPI, PDO)
• Brotherhood and Unity in Politics or BEP [Celsius WATERBERG]
• Democratic Alternative '91 or DA91 [Winston JESSURUN]
• General Liberation and Development Party or ABOP [Ronnie BRUNSWIJK}
• National Democratic Party or NDP [Desire Delano BOUTERSE]
• National Party of Suriname or NPS [Gregory RUSLAND]
• Party for Democracy and Development or PDO [Waldy NAIN]
• Party for Democracy and Development in Unity or DOE [Carl BREEVELD]
• Party for National Unity and Solidarity or KTPI [Willy SOEMITA]
• People's Alliance, Pertjaja Luhur or PL [Paul SOMOHARDJO]
• Progressive Worker and Farmer's Union or PALU [Jim HOK]
• Surinamese Labor Party or SPA [Guno CASTELEN]
• United Reform Party or VHP [Chandrikapersad SANTOKHI]
• Victory 7 or V7 (formerly the New Front for Democracy and Development or NF) (a coalition including NPS, VHP, DA91, PL, SPA) [Chandrikapresad SANTOKHI]

• 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 (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Sylvana Elvira SIMSON (since 1 September 2015)

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; originally adapted from a Sunday school song written in 1893 and contains lyrics in both Dutch and Sranang Tongo

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

agriculture:

11.2%

industry:

19.5%

services:

69.3% (2010)

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) (2015)

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

number of registered air carriers:

2; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 5

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

259,682

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

29,324,319 mt-km (2015)

total:

4,304 km

paved:

1,130 km

unpaved:

3,174 km (2003)

country comparison to the world: 155

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

• 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 UN 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, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and men, women, and children subjected to forced labor;
• women and girls from Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic are subjected to sex trafficking in the country, sometimes in interior mining camps;
• migrant workers in agriculture and on fishing boats and children working in informal urban sectors and gold mines are vulnerable to forced labor;
• traffickers from Suriname exploit victims in the Netherlands

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;
• in 2014, Suriname was granted a waiver from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3 because its government has a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• authorities increased the number of trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and convictions as compared to 2013, but resources were insufficient to conduct investigations in the country’s interior;
• more trafficking victims were identified in 2014 than in 2013, but protective services for adults and children were inadequate, with a proposed government shelter for women and child trafficking victims remaining unopened (2015)