: there are 95,000
hectares of arable land, 7,000 hectares of permanent crops, and 15,000
hectares of permanent pastures (1998 est.) other: 100%

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, Nuclear Test Ban, 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, is increasingly threatened by new development;
relatively small population, mostly along the coast

People Suriname

Population: 436,494 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 31.1% (male 69,642; female 66,262) 15-64
years: 63.1% (male 140,745; female 134,494) 65 years and over: 5.8%
(male 11,480; female 13,871) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.55% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 19.97 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 5.67 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -8.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05
male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over:
0.83 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 23.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 74.7 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility
rate: 2.44 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.26% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 3,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 210 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Surinamer(s) adjective: Surinamese

Ethnic groups: Hindustani (also known locally as "East Indians";
their ancestors emigrated from northern India in the latter part of the
19th century) 37%, Creole (mixed white and black) 31%, Javanese 15%,
"Maroons" (their African ancestors were brought to the country in the
17th and 18th centuries as slaves and escaped to the interior) 10%,
Amerindian 2%, Chinese 2%, white 1%, other 2%

Religions: Hindu 27.4%, Muslim 19.6%, Roman Catholic 22.8%, Protestant
25.2% (pred