Suriname, the unknown country!
Not many people know this little country named Suriname. Suriname, officially known as the Republic of Suriname is located in the northern of South America. With size of 63000 square mile. Suriname is the smallest sovereign state in South America. The capital of Suriname is Paramaribo and the official language is Dutch.
Suriname achieved independence on 25th November 1975. Before that the country was part of The Netherlands for ages. After the two English wars Suriname became part of The Netherlands. The Dutch colonial ruler was using Suriname for farming cotton, sugar and coffee beans. To do this, they used African slaves that they brought from Africa who were living in a bad condition. The Netherlands stayed the boss of Suriname and the works kept on going till Joop den Uyl became the president of Suriname in 1973. It was his opinion that Suriname had to become independent as soon as possible.
So on the 25th November 1975 Suriname became an independent country and to celebrate that there’s no slavery in Suriname anymore, they celebrate ‘Keti Koti’ which means ‘The broken chains’. Every year on the 1th July the people in Suriname remember that there is no slavery in Suriname. They celebrate it with foods, drinks, music and these special costumes.
Suriname is bordered by French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. The population of Suriname is around 550.000 people from all different kind of cultures. The first inhibitors of Suriname were the Indians, but because of the slavery and immigration it has been changed into a multicultural society with Chinese, Hindustani, Javanese, Lebanese, Europeans and people from neighboring countries located in Suriname.
The weather is always good in Suriname. 80 percent of the country is rain forest. Tt’s the biggest country on the world with 6000 square miles of rain forest. Compared to other country’s, there’s no summer, spring, autumn and winter here but short rainy season, short dry season, long rainy season and long dry season.
Nadia Nohar is our current Eastside Intern
Although from Holland her family are originally from Suriname
Like many others we had actually never heard of Suriname until now!