Suriname

The Republic of Suriname is located in the northeastern Atlantic Coast of South America. It is a poor country; in 2012, 70 percent of the population lived below the poverty line. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked it 105 out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2012. This multiethnic country has eight different groups, including Hindustani (37 percent), Creole (31 percent), Javanese (15 percent), Maroons (10 percent), Amerindian (2 percent), Chinese (2 percent), white (1 percent), and others (2 percent) that make up a total population of 573,311 (July 2014 estimate). Minority groups are subjected to discrimination and malnutrition. Early in the 17th century, the Dutch established a colony in Suriname. Suriname gained independence in 1975. The brief history of ...