III.

Population

Suriname has a population of 475,996 (2008 estimate), which gives a population density of about 2.9 people per sq km (7.5 per sq mi). Paramaribo, population 253,000 (2003 estimate), is the country’s capital, largest city, and chief seaport. About 77 per cent of the population lives in urban areas. The main ethnic groups are Asian Indians (Hindus), who make up about 37 per cent of the population, and Creoles (people of mixed African and Native American descent), who make up about 31 per cent of the population. There are also sizeable communities of Indonesians (15 per cent); Bush Negroes, who are descendants of blacks who escaped slavery long ago by moving to the interior (10 per cent); Native Americans, who are descendants of indigenous tribes (3 per cent); Chinese (2 per cent); and Europeans (1 per cent). Many Surinamers have emigrated to the Netherlands.

A.

Religion

The main religions are Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism.

B.

Language

Sixteen languages are spoken in Suriname. Dutch is the official language, used by just under half the population as a mother tongue. Five Native American languages are spoken, notably Carib, of which speakers are found along the north coast, particularly the Albina area. About 150,000 speak Caribbean Hindustani (an Indo-Iranian language) as a first language. Caribbean Javanese, an Austronesian language, is a mother tongue for around 60,000 inhabitants. Five different English-based creoles are spoken as mother tongues in Suriname, including Sranan (120,000 or more), Guyanese Creole English (50,000), and Saramaccan (23,000). Sranan is used by 80 per cent of the population as a lingua franca to communicate across the many different languages spoken.

C.

Education

Education in Suriname is free and compulsory between the ages of 7 and 12. In 1994-1995 Suriname had 280 primary schools with 62,613 pupils and 100 secondary schools with 29,554 pupils. The one university, the University of Suriname (1968), is in Paramaribo and had 2,750 students at the end of the 1990s. There is an adult literacy programme and the literacy rate in 2000 was 96 per cent for men and 93 per cent for women. In 1993 some 7.3 per cent of gross national product (GNP) was spent by the government on education.