Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the nor ...

is located in the northern part of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

and is part of Caribbean South America, bordering the North

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, between

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label= French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas ...

and

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. It is mostly covered by tropical rainforest, containing a great diversity of flora and fauna that, for the most part, are increasingly threatened by new development. There is a relatively small population, most of which live along the coast.

Location

Geographic coordinates: Continent: South America

Area

''Total:''
''Land:''
''Water:'' Area - comparative: See order of magnitude 1 E+11 m². Slightly larger than

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Land boundaries

''Total:'' ''Border countries:'' *

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

- *

- ''Coastline:''

Maritime claims

'' Exclusive economic zone:'' and ''Territorial sea:''

Climate and climate change

Suriname has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southe ...

and a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

, with hot humid conditions year-round.

Climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

in both

and the wider world is leading to hotter temperatures and more

extreme weather Extreme weather or extreme climate events includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a locat ...

. As a fairly poor country, its contributions to global climate change have been limited. Suriname has a large forest cover, the country has been running a carbon negative economy since 2014. Hotter temperatures and changes in precipitation trends are predicted because of climate change.

Terrain

Most of the country is made up of rolling hills, but there is a narrow coastal plain that has swampy terrain. A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 781km² of tidal flats in Suriname, making it the 34th ranked country in terms of tidal flat area. Elevation extremes ''Lowest point:'' Unnamed location in the coastal plain - below Sea Level.
''Highest point:'' Juliana Top -

Natural resources

Timber, hydropower, fish, forests, hydroelectric potential, kaolin, shrimp, bauxite and gold. Small amounts of nickel, copper, platinum and iron ore. It also has sizeable oil.

Water

The country has one large

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

, the

Brokopondo Reservoir The Brokopondo Reservoir, officially named Professor Doctor Ingenieur W. J. van Blommestein Meer, and also called the Brokopondostuwmeer, is a large reservoir in Suriname. It is named after the Surakarta-born Dutch hydrological engineer Wille ...

. Several rivers run through it, including the

Suriname River The Suriname River ( Dutch: ''Surinamerivier'') is 480 km long and flows through the country Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains (where it ...

Nickerie River The Nickerie River is a river in the northwestern part of Suriname. The river originates in the Bakhuis Mountains and then flows to the North where it forms part of the border between the Coronie and Nickerie districts. The river then turns Wes ...

and Maroni or Marowijne River.

Land use

(2005 Estimates) ''Arable land:'' 0.36%
''Permanent crops:'' 0.06%
''Other:'' 99.58%

Irrigated land

(2003)

Natural hazards

Tropical Showers, no hurricanes.

Environment

Current issues

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

is a real problem as timber is cut for export. There is also a lot of pollution of inland waterways by small-scale mining activities.

Climate change

International agreements

Suriname has agreed to the following agreements:

Biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection,

Ship Pollution The environmental effects of shipping include air pollution, water pollution, acoustic, and oil pollution. Ships are responsible for more than 18 percent of some air pollutants. As for greenhouse gas emissions, the International Maritime Orga ...

, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

Extreme points

* Northernmost point – Oostelijke Polders * Southernmost point – Border with

Coeroeni * Westernmost point – Border with

, Sipaliwini District * Easternmost point – Border with

, Sipaliwini District * Highest point –

Julianatop Julianatop is the highest mountain in Suriname at . It is located in the Sipaliwini District. The mountain is named after Juliana of the Netherlands. The Amerindian name of the mountain is Ipinumin (). The mountain was supposedly climbed by the ...

: 1,230 m * Lowest point – unnamed location on the coastal plain: -2 m

References

External links

"Guyana, or, the Kingdom of the Amazons"
is a map from the 1600s of what is now known as Suriname {{South America topic, Climate of