Geography of Suriname


is located in the northern part of South America and is part of Caribbean South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana. It is mostly covered by tropical rainforest, containing a great diversity of flora and fauna that, for the most part, are increasingly threatened by new development. There is a relatively small population, most of which live along the coast.

Location

Geographic coordinates:
Continent:
South America

Area

Total:
Land:
Water:
Area - comparative:
See order of magnitude 1 E+11 m². Slightly larger than the US state of Georgia.

Land boundaries

Total:
Border countries:
Coastline:

Maritime claims

Exclusive economic zone:
and
Territorial sea:

Climate and terrain

Terrain

Most of the country is made up of rolling hills, but there is a narrow coastal plain that has swampy terrain.
Elevation extremes
Lowest point: Unnamed location in the coastal plain - below Sea Level.
Highest point: Juliana Top -

Natural resources

Timber, hydropower, fish, forests, hydroelectric potential, kaolin, shrimp, bauxite and gold. Small amounts of nickel, copper, platinum and iron ore. It also has sizeable oil.

Water

The country has one large reservoir, the Brokopondo Reservoir. Several rivers run through it, including the Suriname River, Nickerie River and Maroni or Marowijne River.

Land use

Arable land:
0.36%
Permanent crops:
0.06%
Other:
99.58%

Irrigated land

Natural hazards

Tropical Showers, no hurricanes.

Environment

Current issues

Deforestation is a real problem as timber is cut for export. There is also a lot of pollution of inland waterways by small-scale mining activities.

Climate change

International agreements

Suriname has agreed to the following agreements:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

Extreme points