Sport in Suriname

Sport In Suriname

Suriname (or Surinam), officially known as the Republic of Suriname (Dutch: Republiek Suriname, ), is a country in northern South America. It is bordered by French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, making it one of two countries, French Guiana the other, not to border any of the Spanish-speaking countries on the continent. Suriname was colonized by the English and the Dutch in the 17th century.

In 1667 it was captured by the Dutch, who then governed Suriname as Dutch Guiana until 1954, when it became one of the constituent countries (Dutch: landen) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands next to the Netherlands Antilles (dissolved in 2010) and the Netherlands. The country of Suriname left the Kingdom of the Netherlands to become independent on 25 November 1975. It is also a member of CARICOM and is considered as a Caribbean country that is not an island.

At just under 165,000 km2 (64,000 sq mi), Suriname is the smallest sovereign state in South America. (French Guiana, while less extensive and populous, is an overseas department of France.) Suriname has a population of approximately 560,000, most of whom live on the country's north coast, where the capital Paramaribo is located. The official language is Dutch. It is the only independent entity in the Americas where Dutch is spoken.