"Suriname, lots of green." Top 5 Page for this destination Suriname by tompt

The history of Suriname as a country begins with the spanish 'discovery' in 1499. Before that only native indians lived here.
Around 1650 the english colonised the area. They came from Barbados and wanted to have plantations here. In 1667 the dutch threw out the english and claimed the country for themselves.
They brought in african slaves to work on the plantations. After slavery was banned they needed other workforces. Workers from Java, Indonesia were imported. Indonesia was a colony from the dutch too.
All these people moving led to a very diverse country.
The main people in Suriname today are: african-suriname, hindoe (indonesian), native indians, chinese and dutch farmers. Ofcourse there are many more groups and they all live together in harmony. The fact that the jewish synagoge and the mosque are next to eachother in Paramaribo is proof of that.

Suriname is not a very large country, but with only 550 000 people living on the 164000 sq km, there is lots of space for everyone. About 300 000 people live in the Paramaribo district. That leaves very little people for the other cities.
The capitol Paramaribo has no high rise buildings, it is not necessary, there is space enough.

The centre of Paramaribo is not very large. You will find some wooden houses here. Ofcourse there are some shopping streets. But what you will find all over are casino's.
History wise you have to visit the Fort Zeelandia, a remain of the dutch colonisation here. Have a walk through the Palmentuin, once the garden of the governor. Or just have a drink along the riverside.

Once you have left the city and go south, the road soon ends. The only way to get to the inland is by boat upstream. (Hence the name Upper Suriname). The people living here are mainly descendants of the slaves that fled the regime and hide in the jungle.
The standards of living are not very high. The house are simple and some villages have electricity in the evening hours. There is virtually no water supply, else then the river. We saw some projects where wells were digged.
Most of the people living here live of the land.