History of Suriname
The only independent state outside Europe where Dutch is the official language of government, business, media and education. 3 eras, 1667 to today.
Surinam, 1667–1954 Draft, not yet reviewed
Surinam, also unofficially known as Dutch Guiana, was a Dutch plantation colony in the Guianas and the predecessor polity of the modern country of Suriname. Surinam was a Dutch colony from 26 February 1667, when Dutch forces captured Francis Willoughby's English colony during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, until 15 December 1954, when Surinam became a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The economy of the Colony of Suriname depended upon people enslaved at its plantations. Slavery was eventually abolished on 1 July 1863, a date now celebrated as the public holiday of Ketikoti, although slaves were only released after a ten-year transitory period in 1873.
Seat of power: Paramaribo
Rulers
- Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck, Governor of Suriname, 1683–1688
- Abraham de Veer, Governor of Suriname, 1822–1827
- Burchard Joan Elias, Governor of Suriname, 1842–1845
- Willem Hendrik Johan van Idsinga, Governor of Suriname, 1867–1873
- Titus van Asch van Wijck, Governor of Suriname, 1891–1896
- Cornelis Lely, Governor of Suriname, 1902–1905
- Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg, Governor of Suriname, 1905–1908
- Johannes Cornelis Brons, Governor of Suriname, 1944–1948
- Willem Huender, Governor of Suriname, 1948–1949
Suriname, 1954–1975 Draft, not yet reviewed
Suriname was a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1954 and 1975. The country had full autonomy, except in areas of defence and foreign policy, and participated on a basis of equality with the Netherlands Antilles and the Netherlands itself in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1954 and during the 1950s, the Dutch government strongly opposed the idea of full independence for its former colony. The country became fully independent as the Republic of Suriname on 25 November 1975.
Seat of power: Paramaribo
Rulers
- Henry Lucien de Vries, Governor of Suriname, 1965–1968
Suriname, 1975 to today Draft, not yet reviewed
On 25 November 1975, Suriname became independent following negotiations with the Dutch government. On 25 February 1980, a military coup overthrew Arron's government. Between 2 am and 5 am on 7 December 1982, the military, under Bouterse's leadership, rounded up 13 prominent citizens who had criticized the military dictatorship and held them at Fort Zeelandia in Paramaribo. The dictatorship had all these men executed over the next three days.
Seat of power: Paramaribo
Rulers
- Johan Ferrier, President of Suriname, 1975–1980
- Henk Chin A Sen, President of Suriname, 1980–1982
- Fred Ramdat Misier, President of Suriname, 1982–1988
- Ramsewak Shankar, President of Suriname, 1988–1990
- Johan Kraag, President of Suriname, 1990–1991
- Ronald Venetiaan, President of Suriname, 1991–1996
- Jules Wijdenbosch, President of Suriname, 1996–2000
- Ronald Venetiaan, President of Suriname, 2000–2010
- Desi Bouterse, President of Suriname, 2010–2020
- Chan Santokhi, President of Suriname, 2020–2025
- Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, President of Suriname, 2025 to today
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.