Suriname orSurinam is acountry inSouth America. The official name of the country isRepubliek Suriname (this isDutch and translates toRepublic of Suriname). It used to be known asNederlands Guyana,Netherlands Guiana orDutch Guiana. It is betweenGuyana andFrench Guiana.Paramaribo is thecapital city, in which resides almost half of the country's population. About half a million people live in the country. Suriname became independent from theNetherlands in1975. Before that, it was a part of theKingdom of the Netherlands.
Map of Suriname, with the disputed territories shown
There are border disputes withFrench Guiana andGuyana all to the south of the country.
Dutch, French, Spanish and English explorers discovered the area in the early 16th century. A century later, sugarplantation colonies were established by the Dutch and English along the many rivers in the fertile Guyana plains. After the secondAnglo-Dutch War England traded any claims to the territory forNew Amsterdam which became New York.
In Suriname, people need to go to school until they are twelve years old,[4] and most of them do.[5]Literacy is very common, most people who are illiterate are women.[5]
