Apoera, also Apura, is a town in western

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

. The village has a population of 777 people as of 2020. It owns the community of Tropica. It is the final destination of the Southern East-West Link. north-west on the other side of the

Courantyne River The Courantyne River ( ), also known as Corentyne and Corantijn (), is a river in northern South America in Suriname and Guyana. It is the longest List of rivers of Suriname, river in the country and creates the border between Suriname and the Eas ...

lies the Guyanese village of Orealla. The village is home to the

Lokono The Lokono or Arawak are an Arawak people native to northern coastal areas of South America. Today, approximately 10,000 Lokono live primarily along the coasts and rivers of Guyana, with smaller numbers in Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Trinida ...

tribe, but has been westernized. Due to the influx of people of

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

, the languages used are English, and

Sranan Tongo Sranan Tongo (Sranantongo, "Surinamese tongue", Sranan, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language from Suriname, in South America, where it is the first or second language for 519,600 Surinamese people (approximately 80% of the popu ...

. Dutch is rarely spoken and the native language has all but disappeared. According to the

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

, Apoera was founded around 1920 by the Gordon family.

Geography

Apoera is part of the Kabalebo resort in the

Sipaliwini District Sipaliwini is the largest Districts of Suriname, district of Suriname, located in the south. Sipaliwini is the only district that does not have a regional capital, as it is directly administered by the national government in Paramaribo. Sipaliwini ...

. This town is situated on the Surinamese (Eastern) Bank of the river Corantijn and has about 777 inhabitants, originally mainly Ameridians of the

tribe. Apoera, apart from over the river, is also accessible via the road link Zanderij-Bitagron-Camp 52 (the southern east–west link). It is located about 24 km from the Guyanese village of Orealla. The town of Apoera is situated in the close vicinity of the Amerindian Village Washabo, the Tiriyó village of Sandlanding, and the Washabo Airstrip. Up to 1995, the villages of Apoera, Washabo and Section were governed by the same chieftain due to their close vicinity.

Healthcare

Apoera is home to a '' Medische Zending'' healthcare centre.

Economic development

In the framework of the West-Suriname plan from 1976 to 1978 an 80 kilometer long railway was built from the south of Apoera to the Bakhuis mountain range, for

bauxite mining Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

. It was intended that Apoera would be developed into a port where bauxite ships could dock, but in the end the railroad was never used for this purpose. According to this West Suriname Plan, Apoera would be transformed into a prosperous harbor city transporting

bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

coming from the

Bakhuis Mountains The Bakhuis Mountains () are a mountain range in central Suriname, spanning 110 kilometres. The mountain range form of the northern part of the Wilhelmina Mountains, and the mountains and its village were named after the Netherlands, Dutch explor ...

to the ships in the harbor. The plan never came to fruition and the 63 prefab houses for the workmen had been abandoned and often squatted. In 2003, twelve houses were sold to the inhabitants. In the framework of the IIRSA project on the upgrading of the road between

Ciudad Guayana Ciudad Guayana () (English: Guayana City) is a city in Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State, Venezuela. It stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco, Orinoco river, at the point where it is joined by its main tributary ...

, , Linden, Apoera and

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, 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's p ...

, a bridge spanning the

is planned near Apoera. According to a study by Pitou van Dijk, the Linden-Paramaribo section has only secondary priority with IIRSA at the moment. There was timber extraction taking place at Apoera including at the business complex of the sawmill of the Greenheart Group, but Greenheart closed the sawmill in 2015. Apoera has some lodges where tourists can stay during trips through the rain forest. The Surinamese writer Clark Accord wrote the novel ''"Between Apoera and Oreala"'' which was published in 2005.

References

{{Authority control Guyana–Suriname border crossings Indigenous villages in Suriname Populated places in Sipaliwini District Squatting in Suriname