Best Bitcoin Card for Suriname

The Republic of Suriname, formerly Dutch Guyana, lies on the north coast of South America. It has an area of 163 465 km², which is slightly more than twice the size of the German state of Bavaria. Not included in the area are two regions, one in the southeast on the border with French Guiana and one in the southwest on the border with Guyana, whose ownership is disputed between the respective neighbouring countries. In addition to the two national borders with French Guiana and the Republic of Guyana, Suriname has another border with Brazil in the south. The entire northern border of the country is occupied by the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Paramaribo with about 244 000 inhabitants.

The former Dutch colony consists of four landscape regions, which consist from north to south of coastal zone, plain, hill country and mountains. The narrow coastal zone has isolated mangrove forests, sandbanks and swamps. Further south there is a plain formed by sand and clay from the Amazon estuary, the fertile soil of which is used as the country’s main cultivation area. Further south is a hilly area, partly based on sand sediment and rich in quartz. Over three quarters of the land area is occupied by the fourth landscape region, which consists of a mountain massif whose southern and central areas are completely covered with rainforest. Within this massif, the highest mountain in the country, the Julianatop, rises to 1,280 m in the Wilhelmina Mountains. The largest lake in Suriname is the Blommestein lake dammed near Afobaka, which feeds from the river Suriname. Other important rivers are Courantyne, Coppename and Maroni, which like Suriname flow northwards into the Atlantic Ocean.

Political System

Suriname is, according to the constitution of 1987, a presidential republic with a multi-party system whose legal system is based on that of the Netherlands and France. The five-year president elected by parliament (since August 2010 Desiré Bouterse) occupies a prominent position in the political system due to his extensive executive powers. It is supported by a 14-member so-called State Council, which also acts as a monitoring and advisory body. The 51 members of the National Assembly elected by the people for five years each have a legislative function. The country is divided into nine districts and one capital distric.

Economy

The gross domestic product (GDP) shows a steady growth of over 4 % annually. Unemployment is below 10 %. Suriname has managed its high inflation by devaluing and pegging the Suriname dollar to the US dollar in early 2011.

Agriculture, which now accounts for only 9 % of gross domestic product (GDP), is concentrated in the fertile coastal region. Rice, bananas and nutmeg are the main crops that are partly exported and partly consumed in the country. The fact that nine tenths of the country is covered with tropical timber gives the timber industry a solid foundation.

The dominant industrial sector (36% of GDP) is largely based on bauxite mining in the mines of the eastern hills. It accounts for almost three quarters of export earnings. Further processing into aluminium has taken place in the country since the construction of an appropriately dimensioned power plant to generate the necessary energy. Gold mining and oil production are also important.

For historical reasons, the country’s most important trading partners have always been the Netherlands; in recent years, however, imports (fuels, food, cotton and consumer goods) have mainly come from the USA. Exports (bauxite, aluminium, gold, crude oil) are supplied to Norway, the USA and France.

Tourism is a growing sector. The most important port is Paramaribo; the country’s international airport is in Zanderij, about 50 kilometres from the capital. Currency is the Suriname dollar (= 100 cents).

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