5,023 (Chad),
7,983 (Uganda)
IDPs: 4.367 million (internal conflict since 1980s; ongoing
genocide) (2004)
This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005
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@Suriname
Introduction Suriname
Background:
Independence from the Netherlands was granted in 1975. Five years
later the civilian government was replaced by a military regime that
soon declared a socialist republic. It continued to rule through a
succession of nominally civilian administrations until 1987, when
international pressure finally forced a democratic election. In
1989, the military overthrew the civilian government, but a
democratically-elected government returned to power in 1991.
Geography Suriname
Location:
Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
French Guiana and Guyana
Geographic coordinates:
4 00 N, 56 00 W
Map references:
South America
Area:
total: 163,270 sq km
water: 1,800 sq km
land: 161,470 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Georgia
Land boundaries:
total: 1,707 km
border countries: Brazil 597 km, French Guiana 510 km, Guyana 600 km
Coastline:
386 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; moderated by trade winds
Terrain:
mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: unnamed location in the coastal plain -2 m
highest point: Juliana Top 1,230 m
Natural resources:
timber, hydropower, fish, kaolin, shrimp, bauxite, gold, and small
amounts of nickel, copper, platinum, iron ore
Land use:
arable land: 0.37%
permanent crops: 0.06%
other: 99.57% (2001)
Irrigated land:
490 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
NA
Environment - current issues:
deforestation as timber is cut for export; pollution of inland
waterways by small-scale mining activities
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
smallest independent country on South American continent; mostly
tropical rain forest; great diversity of flora and fauna that, for
the most part
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