Saramacca River is a river in

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 north ...

. The

Arawaks The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, wh ...

named this river "Surama", and today's name "Saramacca" is probably derived from it. It originates in the

Wilhelmina Mountains The Wilhelminagebergte () is a mountain range in the district of Sipaliwini in central Suriname. It extends about from west to east. It is named after Queen Wilhelmina. The Wilhelminagebergte is part of the Tumucumaque Uplands of the Guiana Shiel ...

and flows northwards and enters the

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 ...

together with the

Coppename River The Coppename is a river in Suriname (South America) in the district of Sipaliwini, forming part of the boundary between the districts of Coronie and Saramacca. Course The Coppename river begins in the Wilhelmina Mountains. Its tributaries are ...

. It has a river basin of 9.400 km² and length of 255 km. The Saramacca River is used for

water transport Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used throu ...

. Scientific exploration of the river began in the 1770s.

References

* Rivers of Suriname {{Suriname-river-stub