ACOG - Suriname  - IBM

Geography

Location: Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana

Area:
total area: 163,270 sq km
land area: 161,470 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than Georgia

Land boundaries: total 1,707 km, Brazil 597 km, French Guiana 510 km, Guyana 600 km

Coastline: 386 km


People

Population: 429,544 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 34% (female 70,845; male 74,330)
15-64 years: 61% (female 130,153; male 133,693)
65 years and over: 5% (female 10,897; male 9,626)

Population growth rate: 1.58% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 24.72 births/1,000 population

Death rate: 5.91 deaths/1,000 population

Net migration rate: -3 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Infant mortality rate: 30.2 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.76 years
male: 67.24 years
female: 72.41 years

Total fertility rate: 2.73 children born/woman

Ethnic divisions: Hindustani (also known locally as "East" Indians; their ancestors emigrated from northern India in the latter part of the 19th century) 37%, Creole (mixed European and African ancestry) 31%, Javanese 15.3%, "Bush Black" (alsoknown as "Bush Creole" whose ancestors were brought to the country in the17th and 18th centuries as slaves) 10.3%, Amerindian 2.6%, Chinese 1.7%,Europeans 1%, other 1.1%

Religions: Hindu 27.4%, Muslim 19.6%, Roman Catholic 22.8%, Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian), indigenous beliefs 5%

Languages: Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others), Hindustani (a dialectof Hindi), Javanese

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population: 95%
male: 95%
female: 95%


Government

Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Suriname
conventional short form: Suriname

Type: republic

Capital: Paramaribo

Independence: 25 November 1975 (from Netherlands)

Constitution: ratified 30 September 1987


Economy

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $1.2 billion

National product real growth rate: -0.8%

National product per capita: $2,800

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 225%

Unemployment rate:

Electricity:
capacity: 420,000 kW
production: 1.4 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 3,123 kWh



Olympic Factoid
The Mother Nature was kind to Olympic athletes and spectators. The average high temperature during the Games was 89 degrees with an average low of 72 degrees. Highest temperature registered (20 July) - 99 degrees. Lowest high temperature registered is 79 degrees (28 July).