Country · Americas
Suriname
Republic of Suriname
Suriname is a country in South America. Its capital city is Paramaribo. About 576 thousand people live there, in an area of 163 820 square kilometres.
Picture credit: Forrestjunky (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Mark Ahsmann (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Rijksmuseum (CC0) · Rafaeljantz (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Ymnes (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Suriname?
Suriname lies in South America, on the continent of Americas.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 445 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 386 km long.
It shares a border with 3 countries: Brazil, French Guiana and Guyana.
How big is Suriname?
Suriname covers 163 820 square kilometres.
That is about 4 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 90th largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 3.5 people on every square kilometre.
Who lives in Suriname?
About 576 thousand people live in Suriname.
That is the 164th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Dutch.
They pay with the Surinamese dollar ($).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 71 years.
The land of Suriname
The land in Suriname sits on average 246 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 386 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 19 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Suriname different?
Websites from here often end in .sr.
Suriname and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 0.1 live in Suriname.
It takes up about 0.12 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Americas it is the 15th largest of 35 countries, and the 26th most populated.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Suriname and its neighbours
Brazil, its largest neighbour, is about 52 times bigger.
Brazil has more people: 209.5 million against 576 thousand.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 1 live wild in Suriname: Goliath birdeater.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Suriname?
The capital of Suriname is Paramaribo. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Suriname?
About 576 thousand people live in Suriname, which makes it the 164th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Suriname?
Suriname borders Brazil, French Guiana and Guyana — 3 neighbours in total.
How big is Suriname?
Suriname covers 163 820 square kilometres, making it the 90th largest country in the world. That is about 4 times the size of Switzerland.
Which continent is Suriname in?
Suriname is in Americas, in the part called South America.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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