SURINAME

• The GDP (in terms of purchasing power parity, as of 2002) is 1.5 billion dollars, with a real growth rate of 1.2%.  The GDP per capita (in terms of purchasing power parity) is $3,500.  The percentage of GDP concentrated in the services sector has grown to 65%, in alignment with world trend.  Industry and Agriculture make up 22% and 13% of GDP respectively.
• The most significant player in the Surinamese economy is the bauxite industry ( which produces alumina and aluminum) and the gold industry.  Together they make up 15% of GDP and 70% of exports.  Other exports include crude oil, lumber, shrimp and fish, rice, and bananas.  The largest importer of Surinamese goods is the US (30.9%), followed by Norway (18.8%), Netherlands (9.2%), France, Japan, and the UK.
• Suriname imports mostly capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs, cotton, and consumer goods.  It imports these from the US (58.5%), Netherlands (27.6%), Trinidad and Tobago, Japan, UK. and Brazil.
• The currency is the Surinamese guilder (the guilder being a Dutch legacy).
• Suriname currently receives economic aid from the Netherlands, the European Development Fund, and Belgium to the tune of 22.3 million US dollars.
• The unemployment rate (2002) is 17%, with a whopping 70% living below the poverty line.  The largest employment sector is government, with other large employment sectors being trade, manufacturing, services, and mining.

• The political climate in Suriname has a rocky past, but has enjoyed relative stability under a constitutional democracy led by  President Ronald Venetiaan (above) since1991.  Venetiaan enjoys the responsibilities of being both the chief of state and the head of the government.
• The increased flood of Surinamese to Paramaribo and the establishment of ethnic enclaves there has aided the development of political parties to represent every ethnic group.  There are 15 different political parties listed by the CIA Factbook, which span the political spectrum.  Venetiaan is the head of The New Front, a coalition of four parties (Suriname National Party, Progressive Reform Party, Suriname Labor Party, and Pertjaja Luhur).

• The population of Suriname, as of July 2003, is 435, 449 people.  This makes Suriname the smallest independent country in Latin America.  The population growth rate, as of 2003, is 0.37%, and has been declining since at least 1997.  This could be due, in part, to a negatively growing net migration rate.
• There are as many as seven distinct ethnic groups in Suriname, with no overwhelming majority.  Hindustani make up 37%, Creole 31%, Javanese 15%, Maroons 10%, Amerindian 2%, Chinese 2%, white 1%, and other 2%.
• Most people in Suriname can speak three languages, the first being their mother tongue (their are at least as many separate languages as there are ethnic groups).  The second language for most is Dutch, due to the major role the Netherlands have played in Suriname's colonial past.  Dutch is spoken primarily in the media, schools, and parliament.  The third language commonly spoken is Sranantongo.  Sranantongo was the language introduced by Creoles in early colonial times.  The Creoles were the first slaves to be imported, and they came from the surrounding Caribbean territories and Africa.
• The religious diversity in Suriname is as colorful as and extensive as the ethnic diversity.  Protestants, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, various variations on Protestantism, winti (an Afro-Caribbean religion), and many smaller religions branching from these and older ethnic religions make up the religious patchwork of Suriname.

• In a country with so many, relatively large, ethnic groups there are bound to be clashes.  Different ethnic groups have found themselves relegated to the bottom at various points in history.  However, for the diversity of the country the Surinamese have experienced relative racial harmony.  The majority of the groups share a humiliating colonial past and a desire to improve the future.  As more and more people have migrated to Paramaribo the trend of cultural assimilation has increased.  More and more people speak Dutch and an urban culture is developing which overwhelms many cultural distinctions (for better or worse).  There is a high education rate in the capital and the overall literacy rate in Suriname is 93%.  The ethnic groups which fare the worst in terms of education and economics are the Amerindians and Maroons.
• As a Latin American country Suriname has a wealth of natural resources.  As in most countries the advent and growth of urbanization and industrialization in Suriname has created such negative externalities as deforestation, pollution of inland waterways, and threatened flora and fauna.
• In the past twenty years or so Suriname has racked up some considerable debt, especially with the US, to the tune of 321 million dollars.  It is incumbent on the Surinamese government to control inflation (17%) and improve structural development, including the bauxite industry, so that the debt can begin to be managed.

• Considering the number of separate ethnicities and religions in Suriname there is probably something happening every day of the year.  There is an annual arts festival which involves Guyana and French Guiana as well.  Modern art is alive and kicking, as the whimsical sculpture above indicates. 
• The Netherlands have also played a role in Suriname's cultural development, as many artists have trafficked between the two nations for some time. 
• Kaseko is the music of Suriname and, appropriately, is subject to an enormous amount of interpretation and variation.  Kaseko began in colonial times and has picked up cultural influences like a snowball rolling downhill.  Today Kaseko is internationally known and many record labels carry Kaseko artists.  Yakki-Famirie is a Maroon Kaseko band, based in Paramaribo, and is one of the most popular groups.