Hindu 27.4%, Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian), Roman Catholic 22.8%, Muslim 19.6%, indigenous beliefs 5%
Roman Catholic 61.4%, Seventh Day Adventist 6%, Pentecostal 5.6%, Baptist 4.1%, Methodist 3.7%, Church of God 1.2%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.2%, other Christian 7.7%, Rastafarian 1.3%, other or unspecified 1.6%, none 6.1% (2001 census)
Languages
Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese
English (official), French patois
Exports
alumina, gold, crude oil, lumber, shrimp and fish, rice, bananas
External Debt
$504,300,000 $
Exchange Rate
Surinamese dollars (SRD) per US dollar - 2.745 (2007), 2.745 (2006), 2.7317 (2005), 2.7336 (2004), 2.6013 (2003) note: in January 2004, the government replaced the guilder with the Surinamese dollar, tied to a US dollar-dominated currency basket
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.200%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana
Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, about half way between Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago
Area
163,820 km sq
751 km sq
Coastline
386 km
148 km
Climate
tropical; moderated by trade winds
tropical; moderated by northeast trade winds; heavy rainfall
