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The Republic of Suriname is a constitutional democracy based on the 1987 constitution. The legislative branch of government consists of a 51-member unicameral National Assembly, simultaneously and popularly elected for a 5-year term. The executive branch is headed by the president, who is elected by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly or,...
The backbone of Suriname's economy is the export of alumina and small amounts of aluminum produced from bauxite mined in the country. In 1999, the aluminum smelter was closed. However, alumina exports accounted for 72% of Suriname's estimated export earnings of $496.6 million in 2001. Suriname's bauxite deposits have been among the world's richest....
Several Amerindian languages are spoken such as Arowak, which belong to the Arowak language group, and Carib, Oayana and Akurio which belong to the Carib language group. The structure of the Amerindian societies is relatively simple. The only division of labor is between men en women. Part-time specialists are the village head and the piai (shaman)....
Arawak and Carib tribes lived in the region before Columbus sighted the coast in 1498. Spain officially claimed the area in 1593, but Portuguese and Spanish explorers of the time gave the area little attention. Dutch settlement began in 1616 at the mouths of several rivers between present-day Georgetown, Guyana, and Cayenne, French Guiana. Suriname...
Suriname is bordered to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, to the east by the Marowijne River (which forms the border with French Guiana), to the west by the Corantijn River (which forms the border with Guyana), and to the south by forests, savannahs and mountains which separate it from Brazil. In the northern part of the country are coastal lowlands...
Most Surinamers live in the narrow, northern coastal plain. The population is one of the most ethnically varied in the world. Each ethnic group preserves its own culture and many institutions, including political parties, tend to follow ethnic lines. Informal relationships vary: the upper classes of all ethnic backgrounds mix freely; outside of the...
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