Benzdorp | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Benzdorp Location in Suriname | |
| Coordinates: 3°40′26″N54°5′6″W / 3.67389°N 54.08500°W | |
| Country |  Suriname |
| District | Sipaliwini District |
| Resort (municipality) | Tapanahony |
Benzdorp is a village in the Sipaliwini District of Suriname. It is named after the Dutch consul and bullion dealer Henry Albert Wilhelm Benz (1889-1962). [1]
The village lies in the jungle of the Tapanahony resort, near the Lawa River that forms the border with French Guiana, an overseas region and further north, in the Marowijne. Near Benzdorp is the rapids of Oemankrassiabra. Downstream (to the North) lies the town of Cottica and upstream is Anapaike. To the east is Nouveau Wakapou. [2] To the Southeast, across the Lawa River is the French Guyanese place Maripasoula.
Southwest of the village is Fatu Switie, a mountain ridge with an altitude of about 375 meters. [3]
Around 1885, gold was found in this area between the Lawa and the Tapanahony rivers, but because there was a disputed border between the Dutch and the French colony, the case was submitted to Russian Tsar Alexander III who in May 1891 awarded the area to Suriname. In 1902, then-Governor Cornelis Lely in Suriname, decided that the Lawa Railway would be built by the government. The railway line would transport gold from the Lawa area to Paramaribo. The proposed 350-kilometre (220 mi) railway line was only half completed from Paramaribo due to disappointing gold finds. [4]
Around 1974, the population of the village shrunk to about 10 inhabitants. [5] More recently, gold seekers have returned to the village, including a relatively large number of garimpeiros (Brazilian gold miners), and it became a gold extraction area since the early 1990s. The garimpeiros and gowtuman (Surinamese gold miners) moved inland, founding a new village referred to as Benzdorp, though it is kilometers away from the original village Benz founded on the banks of the Lawa River (which is now called "the landing"). [6] An estimated 600 people live in the contemporary Benz village, of which two thirds come from Brazil and the others are maroons. [5]
Benzdorp is originally an Aluku (or Aloekoe or Boni) village; both banks (but especially the French) of the Lawa on this height have been inhabited by the Aluku Maroons for hundreds of years. These people have been active as gold miners in this part of their habitat. The Surinamese government has the rights to gold mining in the Benz village and surroundings and has issued a concession to Grassalco, which provides contracts to the (Brazilian, Surinamese and French) gold miners for a monthly fee. [6]
In May 2006, the village was flooded when the water of the Lawa reached far beyond the banks as a result of heavy rainfall, where also many other Surinamese villages suffered from then.
On April 3, 2008, an airplane operated by Blue Wing Airlines crashed upon landing at Lawa Antino Airport near Benzdorp in which 19 people were killed. The Lawa Antino airport is 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) west of Benzdorp.
On May 17, 2013, a private helicopter from French Guiana, tasked with transporting gold during an unregistered flight in the interior of Suriname, crashed near Benzdorp gold mining settlement of Boewese, in the concession of NaNa Resources. The pilot got injured with a leg fracture and was transferred for treatment to Maripasoula in French Guiana. [7] [8] [9]
The Maroni or Marowijne is a river in South America that forms the border between French Guiana and Suriname.
The Aluku are a Bushinengue ethnic group living mainly on the riverbank in Maripasoula in southwest French Guiana. The group are sometimes called Boni, referring to the 18th-century leader, Bokilifu Boni.
Cottica Lawa, often shortened to Cottica and also called Cotticadorp is a village in the district of Sipaliwini, Suriname. It is located in the east, along the Marowijne River and the border with French Guiana. The village has a school, and a clinic.
Tapanahoni is a resort in Suriname, located in the Sipaliwini District. Its population at the 2012 census was 13,808. Tapanahoni is a part of Sipaliwini which has no capital, but is directly governed from Paramaribo. Tapanahony is an enormous resort which encompasses a quarter of the country of Suriname. The most important town is Diitabiki which is the residence of the granman of the Ndyuka people since 1950, and the location of the oracle.
Maripasoula, previously named Upper Maroni, is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. With a land area of 18,360 km2 (7,090 sq mi), Maripasoula is the largest commune of France. The commune is slightly larger than the country of Kuwait or the U.S. state of New Jersey.
Papaichton is a commune in the overseas region and department of French Guiana. The village lies on the shores of the Lawa River. Papaichton is served by the Maripasoula Airport.
The Wayana are a Carib-speaking people located in the southeastern part of the Guiana highlands, a region divided between Brazil, Suriname, and French Guiana. In 1980, when the last census took place, the Wayana numbered some 1,500 individuals, of which 150 in Brazil, among the Apalai, 400 in Suriname, and 1,000 in French Guiana, along the Maroni River. About half of them still speak their original language.
On Thursday, April 3, 2008, an Antonov An-28 operated by Blue Wing Airlines crashed upon landing at Lawa Antino Airport in Benzdorp, Suriname. The plane carried 17 passengers and a crew of 2, all of whom perished. The crash occurred around 11:00 am ART. Initial media reports indicated that the airplane had to abort the landing, as the runway was being used by another Bluewing AN-28 aircraft. The airplane attempted a go-around, but failed to gain height and crashed into a mountain.
The Ndyuka people or Aukan people (Okanisi), are one of six Maroon peoples in the Republic of Suriname and one of the Maroon peoples in French Guiana. The Aukan or Ndyuka speak the Ndyuka language. They are subdivided into the Opu, who live upstream of the Tapanahony River in the Tapanahony resort of southeastern Suriname, and the Bilo, who live downstream of that river in Marowijne District.
Brazil–Suriname relations are the bilateral relations between the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Republic of Suriname. Diplomatic relations were established on 3 March 1976. Brazil has an embassy in Paramaribo since the independence of Suriname on 25 November 1975. Suriname has an embassy in Brasília since 1976, and a consulate in Belém since 2012.
Langatabiki is a Paramacca village in the Sipaliwini District of Suriname. Langatabiki is the residence of the granman of the Paramaccan people. Langatabiki is located in the Pamacca resort which was created on 11 September 2019 out of Tapanahony.
Granman is the title of the paramount chief of a Maroon nation in Suriname and French Guiana. The Ndyuka, Saramaka, Matawai, Aluku, Paramaka and Kwinti nations all have a granman. The paramount chiefs of Amerindian peoples in Suriname are nowadays also often called “granman”.
Stoelmanseiland is an island, and a village in the Paramacca resort of the Sipaliwini District in Suriname. It is located at the confluence of the Tapanahony River with the Lawa River which forms the Marowijne River, and is also the border with French Guiana.
Antonio do Brinco, also Albina 2, is a garimpeiros village in the Tapanahony resort of the Sipaliwini District of Suriname. The village is located on the Lawa River, and is next to Peruano, and opposite Maripasoula in French Guiana. The village is named after Antonio with the earring who constructed the first commercial building.
Boniville is a village of Aluku Maroons in the commune of Papaïchton located on the Lawa River in French Guiana.
Villa Brazil is a garimpeiros village in the Boven Saramacca resort of the Sipaliwini District of Suriname.
Squatting in Suriname is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. Maroons and indigenous peoples such as Tiriyó Amerindians have squatted buildings and illegal gold prospectors have occupied land.
Sara Creek is a former tributary of the Suriname River located in the Para District of Suriname. After the completion of the Afobaka Dam in 1964, the Sara Creek flows into the Brokopondo Reservoir. In 1876, gold was discovered along the Sara Creek, and a railway line from Paramaribo to the river was completed in 1911.
Nouveau Wakapou, also Nouveau Wacapou, is an Aluku maroon village situated on the Lawa River in French Guiana. The village is located across the Surinamese gold mining village of Benzdorp.
Poeloegoedoe is a village in the Tapanahony River at the confluence with the Lawa River. It is named after the Poeloegoedoe Falls and is inhabited by maroons of the Ndyuka people. The village is located in the Tapanahony resort of Sipaliwini District, Suriname.