President: Nguyen Minh Triet Secretary-general of the Communist Party : Nguyen Phu Trong
Population
560,157
91,519,289
Life Expectancy
71.120 years
72.410 years
Capital City
Paramaribo
Hanoi
Largest city
Paramaribo (population: 223,757)
Thanh pho Ho Chi Minh (population: 3,467,330)
Human Development Index
0.77
0.718
GDP per capita
$9,600 US
$3,400 US
Literacy Rate
89.6%
90.3%
Corruption Perception Index
3.6
2.7
Percentage of Women in Parliament
25.5%
25.8%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
9.000%
2.300%
Death Penalty
Abolished in practice
Legal
Political System
constitutional democracy
Communist state
Independence date
25 November 1975 (from the Netherlands)
2 September 1945 (from France)
Religions
Hindu 27.4%, Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian), Roman Catholic 22.8%, Muslim 19.6%, indigenous beliefs 5%
Buddhist 9.3%, Catholic 6.7%, Hoa Hao 1.5%, Cao Dai 1.1%, Protestant 0.5%, Muslim 0.1%, none 80.8% (1999 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
Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)
Exports
alumina, gold, crude oil, lumber, shrimp and fish, rice, bananas
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
dong (VND) per US dollar - 16,548.3 (2008 est.), 16,119 (2007), 15,983 (2006), 15,746 (2005), NA (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.600%
2.500%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
1
Location
Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana
Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia
Area
163,820 km sq
331,210 km sq
Coastline
386 km
3,444 km
Climate
tropical; moderated by trade winds
tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season (October to March)
