Brokopondo is the capital town of the

Brokopondo District Brokopondo is a district of Suriname. Its capital city is Brokopondo; other towns include Brownsweg and Kwakoegron. The district has a population of 15,909, and an area of 7,364 square kilometres. History The Brokopondo district was established ...

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 ...

. It is located on the west shore of the

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

, just north of the Afobaka dam, 105 kilometers (65 miles) south-east of

capital city of

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 ...

. Brokopondo can be reached via the

Avobakaweg There are several named highways in the country of Suriname. Avobakaweg The Avobakaweg is a paved 2-lane road connecting Paranam with Afobaka, the location of the Afobaka Dam. The road connects northwards to Paramaribo and the East-West Link. ...

from Paranam to Afobaka. Nearby is a granite monument made by sculptor Jo Rens, displaying two men: one standing with a parrot and one sitting and writing. It is meant to symbolize the past and the future. There is also a large beach next to the Suriname river near the city centre. Demographically, the largest ethnic group of Brokopondo are the

Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas and islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery, through flight or manumission, and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with Indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into ...

. The Brokopondo Development Plan has designated the town of Brokopondo as one of the two major centres in the region - the other being Brownsweg - with a focus on tourism. There is a large beach next to the Suriname river near the city centre called Anani Beach. Additional developments will be a proper city centre, a bus station, a large hotel with at least 200 beds, and a centre for cultural studies. Brokopondo is home to a Medische Zending healthcare centre, hotel, school, and police station. In 2014, multi functional centre was opened. On 10 January 2020, a waste incinerator was installed. A growing concern is the activity of gold prospectors who not only poison the rivers with mercury, but are digging away the edge of the town.

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{{Authority control Populated places in Brokopondo District