Republiek Suriname

Political Status: Former Netherlands dependency; granted internal autonomy on December 29, 1954, and complete independence on November 25, 1975; constitution of November 21, 1975, suspended on August 15, 1980, following military coup of February 25; present constitution approved by referendum of September 30, 1987.

Area: 63,036 sq. mi. (163,265 sq. km.).

Population: 487,824 (2004C), 526,000 (2006E).

Major Urban Center (2005E): PARAMARIBO (urban area, 252,000).

Official Language: Dutch. English, Hindi, Javanese, Chinese, and Sranan Tongo (Taki-Taki), a Creole lingua franca, also are widely spoken, while Spanish has been adopted as a working language to facilitate communication with Latin American neighbors.

Monetary Unit: Suriname Dollar (market rate November 2, 2007: 2.75 dollars = $1US). (The Suriname Dollar replaced the Suriname Guilder in January 2004.)

President: Ronald (Runaldo) VENETIAAN (Suriname National ...