Suriname

Suriname (or Surinam), officially known as the Republic of Suriname (Dutch: Republiek Suriname, Dutch pronunciation: [ˌrepyˈblik ˌsyriˈnaːmə] ), is a country in northern South America. It is bordered by French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname was first colonized by the British, and captured by the Dutch in 1667, who governed it as Dutch Guiana until 1954. In 1954 it became one of the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Thecountry of Suriname achieved independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands on 25 November 1975. Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles (until its dissolution in 2010) and the Netherlands itself have cooperated on a basis of equality since 1954. It is also a member of CARICOM and is considered as a Caribbean country that is not an island. Suriname, neighbouring Guyana, France (through its overseas department of French Guiana) and Brazil are the only four countries in South America that have a non-Spanish speaking population with English (Guyana), Dutch (Suriname), Portuguese (Brazil) and French (French Guiana) languages.

At just under 165,000 km2  (64,000 sq mi), Suriname is the smallest sovereign state in South America. (French Guiana, while less extensive and populous, is an overseas department of France.) Suriname has a population of approximately 560,000,[1]  most of whom live on the country's north coast, where the capital Paramaribo is located.