Suriname is divided into 10 districts ( nl, districten).
Overview
History
The country was first divided up into subdivisions by the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
on October 8, 1834, when a Royal Decree declared that there were to be 8 divisions and 2 districts:
*Upper Suriname and Torarica
*Para
*Upper Commewijne
*Upper Cottica and Perica
*Lower Commewijne
*Lower Cottica
*Matapica
*Saramacca
*Coronie (district)
*Nickerie (district)
The divisions were areas near the
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...
,
Paramaribo
Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname' ...
, and the districts were areas further away from the city.
In 1927, Suriname's districts were revised, and the country was divided into 7 districts. In 1943, 1948, 1949, 1952 and 1959 further small modifications were made. On October 28, 1966, the districts were redrawn again, into
*Nickerie
*Coronie
*Saramacca
*Brokopondo
*Para
*Suriname
*Paramaribo
*Commewijne
*Marowijne
These divisions remained until 1980, when yet again, the borders of the districts were redrawn, however, with the following requirements:
*Changes in the old boundaries were made only if it leads to improved functioning
*Each area should be developed
*The new boundaries should respect the identities of
indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
.
The last changes to the districts were in 1985.
See also
*
ISO 3166-2:SR
*
Resorts of Suriname
The ten districts of Suriname are divided into 63 resorts ( Dutch: ''ressorten''). Within the capital city of Paramaribo, a resort entails a neighbourhood; in other cases it is more akin to a municipality, consisting of a central place with a few ...
*
List of Caribbean First-level Subdivisions by Total Area
References
External links
*
Subdivisions of Suriname
Suriname, Districts
Districts, Suriname
Suriname geography-related lists
{{Suriname-geo-stub