Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a sovereign state in northern South America. Situated slightly north of the equator within the tropics, over 90% of its territory is covered by rainforests, the highest proportion of forest cover in the world. Suriname is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, and Brazil to the south. It is the smallest country in South America by both population and territory, with around 612,985 inhabitants in an area of approximately 163,820 square kilometers. The capital and largest city is Paramaribo, home to roughly half the population.
After the creation of the Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Royal Netherlands Army was entrusted with the defence of Suriname, while the defence of the Netherlands Antilles was the responsibility of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The army set up a separate Netherlands Armed Forces in Suriname. Upon independence in 1975, this force was turned into the Surinamese Armed Forces. On February 25, 1980, a group of 15 non-commissioned officers and one junior officer, under the leadership of sergeant major Dési Bouterse, staged a coup d'état and overthrew the Government. Subsequently, the SKM was rebranded as the National Army.
Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron was a Surinamese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Suriname after it gained independence in 1975. A member of the National Party of Suriname, he served from 24 December 1973 with the transition government, to 25 February 1980. He was overthrown in a coup d'état by the military, led by Dési Bouterse. Released in 1981 after charges of corruption were dropped, he returned to banking, his previous career. In 1987, Arron was elected as Vice President of Suriname and served until another coup in 1990 overthrew the government.
Sport Vereniging Transvaal is a Surinamese association football club, which currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the top flight of football in Suriname. They play their home games in Paramaribo at André Kamperveen Stadion to a capacity of 7,100.
Cornelis Lely was a Dutch politician of the Liberal Union (LU) and civil engineer. He oversaw the passage of an act of parliament authorising construction of the Zuiderzee Works, a huge project – designed to his own plans – that turned the Zuiderzee into a lake and made possible the conversion of a vast area of former seabed into dry land.
Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, also known as Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport, and locally referred to simply as JAP, is an airport located in the town of Zanderij and hub for airline carrier Surinam Airways, 45 kilometres (28 mi) south of Paramaribo. It is the larger of Suriname's two international airports, the other being Zorg en Hoop with scheduled flights to Guyana, and is operated by Airport Management, Ltd./ NV Luchthavenbeheer.
Petrus Norbertus Donders was a Dutch Roman Catholic priest and member of the Redemptorist Congregation. He served in various missions in the Dutch colony of Surinam. He started working in the capital Paramaribo, but is predominantly known for his work in and around the leper colony Batavia, where he died in 1887. Peter Donders was beatified as 'Apostle of the Indians and Lepers' in 1982. The miracle needed was found in the cure of a Dutch child from bone cancer back in 1929.
Prostitution in Suriname is illegal but widespread and the laws are rarely enforced. Human trafficking and Child prostitution are problems in the country. Prostitutes are known locally as "motyo". UNAIDS estimate there to be 2,228 prostitutes in the country.
Jagernath Lachmon, also Jaggernath Lachmon, was a Surinamese politician. He was one of the founders of the Progressive Reform Party (VHP), an Indo-Surinamese party founded in 1947 of which he served as President until his death.
Carolina is a resort in Suriname, located in the Para District. Its population at the 2012 census was 343. Most of the inhabitants are indigenous.
Jules Sedney was a Surinamese politician, and Prime Minister of Suriname from 20 November 1969 to 24 December 1973. In 1980, he became governor of the Central Bank of Suriname, but had to flee the country in 1983 after a dispute with Dési Bouterse. Sedney returned to Suriname in 1989.
Johan Adolf "Jopie" Pengel was a Surinamese politician, and prime minister of Suriname from 30 June 1963 to 5 March 1969 for the National Party of Suriname (NPS).
Rudi André Kamperveen was a Surinamese football player, sports administrator, politician and businessman.
Julius Caesar de Miranda was a Surinamese jurist and politician. De Miranda was the first prime minister of Suriname.
Roy Vanenburg is a Surinamese football manager and former player, who was last manager of Hoofdklasse club S.V. Transvaal. He spent most of his professional playing career with S.V. Transvaal, winning six Hoofdklasse titles, and two CONCACAF Champions Cups, finishing as the league top scorer in both 1968 and in 1971. He had previously played for H.V.V. and S.V. Robinhood before joining Transvaal in 1967.
Jan Buiskool was Surinamese Prime Minister and judge in Suriname, the Netherlands and Tangier.
Arthur Johan May was a Surinamese and Dutch civil servant, and served as acting Prime Minister of Suriname in 1969.
Jacques Adam Drielsma (14 October 1886 – 31 July 1974) was a Surinamese lawyer and notary who served as acting Prime Minister of Suriname in 1951, and Finance minister between 1949 and 1952. In 1957, he was sentenced to two years in prison for embezzlement.
The statue of Kwakoe in the Surinames capital Paramaribo is a monument commemorating the abolition of slavery. It was made by the sculptor Jozef Klas.
Jean-fils Désiré Victor (Desi) Polanen was a Surinamese politician and diplomat.
