Country Facts - Suriname

The People

Ethnic Composition

Hindustani (East Indian)	37.0%
Creole	31.0%
Javanese	15.3%
Maroons	10.3%
Amerindian	2.6%
Chinese	1.7%
White	1.0%
Other	1.1%

Religious Composition

Hindu	27.4%
Protestant	25.2%
Roman Catholic	22.8%
Muslim	19.6%
Indigenous beliefs	5.0%

Nationality

Surinamer(s)

Languages Spoken

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.

Education and Literacy

93 percent of the population over the age of 15 can read. By gender, 95 percent of the male population, and 91 percent of the female population is literate.

Labor Force

Total: 100,000

By occupation: N/A

Geography

Land Mass Total

63,038 sq mi (163,270 sq km)

Land

62,343 sq mi (161,470 sq km)

Water

694 sq mi (1,800 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,060 mi (1,707 km)

Border countries: Brazil 370 mi (597 km), French Guiana 316 mi (510 km), Guyana 372 mi (600 km)

Coastline

239 mi (386 km)

Maritime claim

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Tropical; moderated by trade winds

Terrain

Mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps

Elevation extremes

Lowest: unnamed location in the coastal plain 6.5 ft (2 m)
Highest: Juliana Top 4,035 ft (1,230 m)

Natural Resources

Timber, hydropower, fish, kaolin, shrimp, bauxite, gold, and small amounts of nickel, copper, platinum, iron ore

Land use

Arable land	0%
Permanent crops	0%
Other	100%

(1998)
Note: there are 95,000 hectares of arable land, 7,000 hectares of permanent crops, and 15,000 hectares of permanent pastures..

Natural hazards

N/A

Environment - current issues

Deforestation as timber is cut for export; pollution of inland waterways by small-scale mining activities.

Geography Note

Mostly tropical rain forest; great diversity of flora and fauna that, for the most part, is increasingly threatened by new development; relatively small population, most of which lives along the coast.

Demographics

Population

436,494 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	31.1%	Male: 69,642	Female: 66,262
15-64 years:	63.`%	Male: 140,745	Female: 66,262
65 years and over:	5.8%	Male: 11,480	Female: 13,871

(2002))

Growth Rate

0.55% (2002)

Life Expectancy

71.9 years (2002)
Female: 74.7 years
Male: 69.23 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$3,500 (2000)

Infant Mortality

23.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.83 male(s)/female
Total population:	1.03 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

-8.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

The economy is dominated by the bauxite industry, which accounts for more than 15 percent of GDP and 70 percent of export earnings. Suriname's economic prospects for the medium term will depend on renewed commitment to responsible monetary and fiscal policies and to the introduction of structural reforms to liberalize markets and promote competition. The government of Ronald Venetiaan has begun an austerity program, raised taxes, and attempted to control spending. The Dutch Government has restarted the aid flow, which will allow Suriname to access international development financing. From a low of 1 percent GDP growth in 2000, Suriname has pushed its way back to 3.8-percent growth for 2003. Inflation ran as high as 113 percent in 1999 but was brought down to 28.3 percent in 2002 followed by predictions of double-digit rates for the next five years.

Unemployment

20% (1997)

Inflation Rate

59% (2000)

Industries

Bauxite and gold mining, alumina and aluminum production, lumbering, food processing, fishing

Exports

US$399 million (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports

US$525 million (f.o.b., 1999)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$1.5 billion (2000)

Top Export Partners

US 23%, Norway 19%, Netherlands 11%, France, Japan, UK (1999)

Top Import Partners

US 35%, Netherlands 15%, Trinidad and Tobago 12%, Japan, UK, Brazil (1999)

Top Exports

Alumina, aluminum, crude oil, lumber, shrimp and fish, rice, bananas

Top Imports

Capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs, cotton, consumer goods

Debt - external

US$512 million (2000)

Economic aid

Netherlands provided $37 million for project and program assistance, European Development Fund $4 million, Belgium $2 million (1998)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	7a.m. to 3p.m.	Closed
Retail	8a.m. to 5p.m.	Closed
Banks	7:30a.m. to 2p.m.	Closed
Government	7a.m. to 3p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
Independence Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Festival of Sacrifice (Eid Al Adha)¹	February 12	February 2	January 21
Revolution Day	February 25	February 25	February 25
Islamic New Year²	March 5	February 22	February 10
Holi, Festival of Colors, Phagwah³	March 28	March 28	March 28
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter*¹	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
Labor Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Birthday of Prophet Mohammad (Mawlid an Nabi)*²	May 24	May 14	May 2
Freedom Day	July 1	July 1	July 1
Start of Ramadan*³	October 27	October 15	October 4
Independence Day	November 25	November 25	November 25
End of Ramadan (Eid Al Fitr)**¹	November 26	November 14	November 3
Christmas Day**²	December 25	December 25	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26	December 26	December 26

¹	Culmination of the Hajj or Holy Pilgrimage.
²	The lunar Islamic Hijra calendar is made up of 12 months, each month alternating between 29 and 30 days per month, culminating in a total of 354 days per year. The Hijra calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and annually moves 11 days backward through the seasons.
³	Holi, Festival of Colors, and Hindu spring festival dedicated to the god of pleasure. Based on the Indian Lunar Calendar, the fesitval is celebrated with lots of color, and happy spirits. Phagwah, a joyous Hindu festival celebrating the triumph ofgood over evil, is also celebrated at this time, and crowds squirt each other with watercolors representing, love, peace, and brotherhood.
*¹	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
*²	The Birthday of the Prophet Mohammad is celebrated on the twelfth day in the month of Rabi'l of the Islamic calendar.
*³	Ramadan (the month of fasting) begins with the first appearance of the new moon in the ninth month of the lunar Islamic Hijra calendar, and lasts 30 days. Dates for the start of Ramadan will vary from country to country, depending on the first appearance of the moon.
**¹	Feasting that officially marks the end of Ramadan, and commonly lasts for three days.
**²	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press