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.
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.
Commewijne is a district of Suriname, located on the right bank of the Suriname River. Commewijne's capital city is Nieuw Amsterdam. Tamanredjo is another major town, while Meerzorg is the most populated.
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.
Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham was an English peer of the House of Lords.
Anthony or Anthonij Colve was a Dutch captain of Marines and the Governor-General of New Netherland during a brief restoration of Dutch rule in New Netherland during the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
The Suriname River is 480 km long and flows through the country of Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains. The source of the Upper Suriname River is at the confluence of the Gran Rio and Pikin Rio near the village of Goddo. The river continues shortly after the reservoir along Brokopondo as the Lower Suriname River. Than it flows Berg en Dal, the migrant communities Klaaskreek and Nieuw-Lombé, Jodensavanne, Carolina, Ornamibo and Domburg, before reaching the capital Paramaribo on the left bank and Meerzorg on the right bank. At Nieuw-Amsterdam it is joined by the Commewijne and immediately thereafter at the sandspit Braamspunt it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
Events from the year 1667 in England. Dates are given in Old Style. As of the start of this year, the Gregorian calendar in use by the Dutch Republic and elsewhere on the continent is 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar in use in England.
Between 1639 and 1651 English overseas possessions were involved in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars and wars that were fought in and between England, Scotland and in Ireland.
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.
Humphrey Walrond, was acting Governor and later Deputy-Governor of Barbados
The Recapture of Fort Zeelandia or the Seizure of Fort Zeelandia was a minor military action on 13 October 1667 at the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in which an English force under command of Rear Admiral Sir John Harman assaulted and took by force the Dutch settlement and fortress of Zeelandia under Maurits de Rame. The English occupied the area but only for a short while as news of the peace of Breda arrived. The Dutch had captured the Zeelandia earlier in the year, and the English recapture was the last battle before the war's end between England and the Dutch Republic.
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.
Surinam, also known as Willoughbyland, was a short-lived early English colony in South America in what is now Suriname. It was founded in 1650 by Lord Willoughby when he was the Royalist Governor of Barbados.
Henry Powell, was an early English settler, captain, and planter on the Barbados Colony.
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.
