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Official name:Republic of Suriname
Capital:Paramaribo
(The capital is also known as the "wooden city" of the Caribbean and Latin America).
Location:Northern shore of South America
Government:Republic/Parliamentary Democracy
Head of State:H.E. Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan (President)
Ruling coalition:New Front
Surface area:63,251 sq. mi. (163,270 sq. km)
Territorial division:10 districts
Climate:Tropical rain climate, with relatively stable average temperature of 86.6 degrees F throughout the year
Highest point:Juliana top (4,120 feet)
Population (2005 estimate):500,303 (average annual rate of natural increase: 1.5%);
Urban population:68%
Age structure:0-14 years: 33% (male 72,673; female 69,212)
15-64 years; 62% (male 135,573; female 130,700)
65 years and over: 5% (male 10,585; female 12,413)
Population growth rate:0.71% (1999 est.)
Birth rate:21.75 births/1000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 5.75 deaths/1000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate:-8.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)
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: 0.85 male(s)/female
Nationality:Noun: Surinamer(s)
Adjective: Surinamese
Languages:Dutch (official), Sranan Tongo (lingua franca), English (widely spoken), Hindustani, Javanese, Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish.
Ethnic groups:Hindustani (also known locally as "East Indians"; their ancestors emigrated from Northern India in the latter part of the 19th century) 37%, Creole (mixed European and African ancestry 31%, Javanese 15.3%, "Maroons" (their African ancestors were brought to the country in the 17th and 18th centuries as slaves and escaped to the interior) 10.3%, Amerindian 2.6%, Chinese 1.7 %, Europeans 1%, others, mainly Jews and Syrians 1.1%.
Religions:Hindu 27.4%; Protestant, 25.2%; Roman Catholic, 22.8%; Muslim19.6 %; indigenous, about 5 %.
Communication:Modern telecommunication facilities
Two daily news papers and a number of weekly
and monthly papers and magazines
One General Post Office with a number of branch offices
Reasonable public transportation system
Taxi and car rental
One international airport and about 30 airstrips in the interior
Two ports for sea-going vessels
Monetary unit:Suriname dollar
Economic Summary:GDP/PPP (1998 est.) $1.48 billion; $3,400 per capita. Real growth rate: 2% (1998 est.). Unemployment: 20% (1997). Agriculture: paddy rice, bananas, palm kernels, coconuts, plantains, peanuts, beef, chicken, pork, forest products, shrimp.
Industries:Bauxite (Suriname ranks fourth among the world's producers of alumina and bauxite), crude oil, gold mining, alumina and aluminum production, lumbering, food processing, fishing.
Natural resources: bauxite, crude oil, gold and iron ore, timber and fish
Exports: $548.84 million (1997): alumina, aluminum, crude oil, lumber, shrimp and fish, rice, bananas, vegetables.
Imports: $551.8 million (1997): capital equipment, hydrocarbons, foodstuffs, cotton, consumer goods.
Major trading partners: Netherlands, USA, Norway, France, Japan, United Kingdom and the Caribbean Community.
Geography
The territory of the Republic of Suriname is located on the North - Western section of the South American sub-continent and is located between the 2 and the 6 northern latitude and the 54 and the 58 longitude (West of Greenwich)
The country is bordered in the North by the Atlantic Ocean. The Southern border is formed by the Tumac Humac and the Acarai Mountain Chains, which separate the territory of Suriname from that of Brazil. In the East the country is bordered by French Guyana, the 52nd. Department d' Outre Mer of the Republic of France. In the West the country is bordered by the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
The economic zone of Suriname includes the sea-strip North of the country within a width of 200 nautical miles north of the coastline.
Time zone:EST +2; GMT-3
Phone code:Country Code (597), plus the 6 digit local number
Major Airport:Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (Zanderij)
Major Airlines:Suriname Airways (SLM), Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), British West Indies Airways (BWee)Suriname is divided in ten districts:
Paramaribo - Sate Capital
Brokopondo
Commewijne (center Mariënburg)
Coronie (center Totness)
Marowijne (center Albina; econo-city Moengo)
Nickerie (center econo-city) Nieuw-Nickerie)
Para (center Onverwacht)
Saramacca (center Groningen)
Sipaliwini
Wanica (center Lelydorp)
The Suriname Labor Legislation acknowledge a total of ten public holidays, namely:- New Years Day : January 1 - Good Friday* : - Easter Monday* : - Holy Phagwha* : - Id'ul Fitre* : - Labor Day : May 1 - Freedom Day : July 1 - Independence Day : November 25 - Christmas : December 25 - Boxing Day : December 26
Literacy rate:93 % (1990 est.)
Education:Free, Compulsory: ages 7 - 12
In Suriname school attendance for children aged 7 to 12 has legally been compulsory as far back as 1876. The school year runs from October to mid-August and consists of three terms, totally about 40 weeks. Formal education is offered at the following levels:
pre-primary education;
primary education;
secondary education junior level;
secondary education senior level;
tertiary education.
The Anton De Kom University of Suriname
The University has 3 faculties:
I Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences with fields of study in:
Law;
General Economics;
Business Administration;
Public administration;
Sociology;
Education and Agogic Sciences.
II Faculty of Medical Sciences, offers study in Medicine.
III Faculty of Technology with fields of study:
· Infrastructure:
- Land and Water Management;
- Civil Engineering;
- Architecture.
· Mechanical Engineering:
- Mechanical Engineering;
- Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfers.
· Electrical Engineering:
- Information Technology;
- Energy Technology.
· Agricultural Production:
- Agronomy;
- Animal sciences;
- Forestry;
- Soil Sciences.
· Mineral Production
- Geology;
- Mining.
· Environmental Sciences
International Relations
The Anton de Kom University of Suriname is a member of the association of Amazonian Universities. The University has also signed specific agreements with the following academic institutions:
Dutch Universities:
- the University of Amsterdam;
- the University of Utrecht;
- the University of Groningen;
- the Agricultural University of Wageningen.
Belgian Universities:
- Limburgse University Center;
- Catholic University of Leuven;
- Economic University Limburg
- State University Gent
- Free University Brussels
University of Guyana
University of the West Indies
Louisiana State University Agricultural Center