Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, sometimes considered part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. Situated slightly north of the equator, 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, which is home to roughly half the population.
The early history of Suriname dates from 3000 BCE when Native Americans first inhabited the area. The Dutch acquired Suriname from the English, and European settlement in any numbers dates from the 17th century, when it was a plantation colony utilizing slavery for sugar cultivation. With abolition in the late 19th century, planters sought labor from China, Madeira, India, and Indonesia, which was also colonized by the Dutch. Dutch is Suriname's official language. Owing to its diverse population, it has also developed a creole language, Sranan Tongo.
Paramaribo is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people, almost half of Suriname's population. The historic inner city of Paramaribo has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002.
The Dutch began their colonisation of the Guianas, the coastal region between the Orinoco and Amazon rivers in South America, in the late 16th century. The Dutch originally claimed all of Guiana but—following attempts to sell it first to Bavaria and then to Hanau and the loss of sections to Portugal, Britain, and France—the section actually settled and controlled by the Netherlands became known as Dutch Guiana.
Fort Zeelandia is a fortress in Paramaribo, Suriname. In 1640 the French built a wooden fort on the spot which, during British colonial period, was reinforced and became Fort Willoughby. It was taken by the Dutch in 1667 and renamed Fort Zeelandia.
Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave is a work of prose fiction by Aphra Behn (1640–1689), published in 1688 by William Canning and reissued with two other fictions later that year. It was also adapted into a play. The eponymous hero is an African prince from Coramantien who is tricked into slavery and sold to European colonists in Surinam where he meets the narrator. Behn's text is a first-person account of Oroonoko's life, love, rebellion, and execution.
Sir John Yeamans, 1st Baronet was an English colonial administrator and planter who served as Governor of Carolina from 1672 to 1674. Contemporary descriptions of Yeamans described him as "a pirate ashore."
The Curonian colonization of the Americas was performed by the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, which was the second-smallest state to colonise the Americas, after the Knights of Malta. It had a colony on the island of Tobago from 1654 to 1659 and intermittently from 1660 to 1689.
The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, is a region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guyanas: Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, formerly British, Dutch and French Guyana. Broadly it refers to the South American coast from the mouth of the Oronoco to the mouth of the Amazon.
Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham was an English peer of the House of Lords.
Barbadian–Surinamese relations are diplomatic relations between Barbados and Suriname. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 7 February 1977. Neither country has a resident ambassador. Barbados is accredited to Suriname from Bridgetown. Suriname is represented in Barbados through its embassy in Port of Spain,.
Jeronimo, Jeronimy or Hierome Clifford was one of the biggest plantation-owners in Suriname in the late 17th century.
Abraham Crijnssen was a Dutch naval commander, notable for capturing the English colony in Suriname in 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, resulting in the establishment of a long-term colony under Dutch control. The minesweeper HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen and the frigate HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen have been named after him.
Surinam, also unofficially known as Dutch Guiana, was a Dutch plantation colony in the Guianas, bordered by the equally Dutch colony of Berbice to the west, and the French colony of Cayenne to the east. It later bordered British Guiana from 1831 to 1966.
Robert Sandford was an English explorer of the Province of Carolina in the 17th century on behalf of the eight Lords Proprietor of the Province of Carolina. He followed Captain William Hilton in the search for sites on the Carolina coast for establishing English settlements after the charter of 1663. Both Sandford and Hilton's expeditions were based in Barbados, and Sandford was patronized by English planters in Barbados, including James Drax.
William Byam was an English colonist, politician, and agriculturalist who lived during the periods of the English Civil Wars, Interregnum, and Restoration. He was active in English and Barbadian politics, and played a critical role in establishing and governing a short-lived English colony in what is now Suriname. The village of Braamspunt is named after him.
William Sandford (1637–1691) was a colonist, planter, government official and militiaman. Born in an English enclave in The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, he also lived in Surinam, Barbados and East Jersey. In partnership with his uncle, Nathaniel Kingsland of Barbados, he obtained the initial land grant for New Barbadoes, New Jersey and he and his family were the first European settlers there. He held various civil offices and was involved in several militia engagements.
Philip Julius Lichtenberg also van Lichtenberg, was a governor of Surinam. He was governor from 16 February 1669 until March 1671.
The Invasion of Surinam was a Dutch attempt to capture the English held colony of Surinam in February 1667. The Dutch under the command of Abraham Crijnssen captured the colony without much resistance.
