Where Is Suriname?  

A question many people ask us is this: "Where is Suriname?" We are in a small country five degrees north of the Equator on the north-east side of South America (see map below). Suriname used to be called Dutch Guyana when it was a Dutch colony. The official language is Dutch, but people here speak many different languages. The most common language is a Creole called Sranan-Tongo. Hindustanti, Chinese, Javanese are other languages we hear used everyday.

Suriname is a small country. It is about the same size as the state of Georgia. Approximately 430,000 people live in Suriname. Most of the people live in the capital city of Paramaribo. Other people live either in small outlying towns or in villages along the rivers of the beautiful rain forest in Suriname.

Even though Suriname is on the continent of South America, most Surinamers consider themselves to be a part of the Caribbean. Many of the peoples in Suriname were brought by the Dutch to South America to work as slaves. So there is a shared African heritage among the peoples of the Caribbean and the Guyanas. However, today, over half of the population are Hindustantis--the descendants of Indians who came to Suriname as indentured servants. So there is a strong eastern tradition as well. Hindu temples and gods can be seen in many places.                                                                              

Water is Brown!

Did you know that water is brown? Most of the Surinamer artists paint their waterfalls and streams brown. That's because water is brown in Suriname. Powerful currents from the Amazon River bring huge amounts of silt up the coast of South America. Most of our beaches are mud flats. And the rivers in Suriname also bring silt out of the rain forest. The waters are clean, but they look like coffee. In fact there is a well-known swimming hole called "Kola Creek." The waters there really do look like Coca Cola!