Suriname , South America, Colonies, Kolonien, Dutch.

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The Dutch former Colonies

Suriname

List of Settlements

SURINAME
Aurearis, post, Post Aurearis (Apoera):
Batavia, Batavia post, Post Batavia:
Braamspunt, Praam's punt (Braams Point): Fort Piet Heijn
Coronie, Post Coronie (Coronie):
L`Esperance, Post l`Esperance, De Hoop (De Hoop):
Gelderland, Post Gelderland (Gelderland):
Groningen, Post Groningen (Groningen):
Houttuin, Para, Tuinhuizen, Tuinhuizen Eiland (Houttuin): Fort Para, Fort Houttuin
Joodse Savanne, Joods Dorp, Joden Savanne (Jodensavanne):
Tijgersholl, Tigers hole (Nieuw Amsterdam): Fort Nieuw Amsterdam
Nickeriepunt, Nieuw Rotterdam (Nieuw Nickerie):
Parimorbo, Nieuw Middelburg (Paramaribo): Fort Zeelandia
Sarron, Saron, Post Saron (Pikin Saron?):
Rama, Post Rama (Rama):
Republiek, Post Republiek (Republiek):
Cottica Eijland, Sommelsdijck post (Sommelsdijk): Fort Sommelsdijk
Thorarica, Sinto Brigdes, Sancto Bridges (Torarica meer):
Victoria, Post Victoria (Victoria):
Vredenburgh, Post Vredenburgh (Vredenburg):
's-Hertogenbosch, Post 's-Hertogenbosch:
Brandwacht, Post Brandwacht (Region of Commewijne):
Devil's Harwar, Devils Harwar, Post Devil's Harwar (Region of Marrowijne):
Honkoop, Honcoop, Post Honcoop:
Hughesburg, Post Hughesburg (Region of Brokopondo):
Imotappi, Imotapi, Post Imotapi:
Mauritsburg, Post Mauritsburg:
Oranjewoud, Oranjebo, Post Oranjewoud:
Prins Willem Frederick, Willem Frederik:
Uijtkijk, Post Uijtkijk:
Zandpunt (Region of Para):
Zeven Provincien, Post Zeven Provincien:

Arawak and Carib tribes lived in the region before Columbus sighted the coast in 1498. Spain officially claimed the area in 1593, but Spanish and Portuguese explorers of the time gave the area little attention. Dutch settlement began in 1616 at the mouths of several rivers between present-day Georgetown, Guyana, and Cayenne, French Guiana.

Suriname became a Dutch colony in 1667. The new colony, Dutch Guiana, did not thrive. Historians cite several reasons for this, including Holland's preoccupation with its more extensive (and profitable) East Indian territories, violent conflict between whites and native tribes, and frequent uprisings by the imported slave population, which was often treated with extraordinary cruelty. Barely, if at all, assimilated into plantation society, many of the slaves fled to the interior, where they maintained a West African culture and established the six major “Bush Negro” (or Maroon) tribes in existence today: the Djuka, Saramaccaner, Matuwari, Paramaccaner, Quinti, and Aluku.

Plantations steadily declined in importance as labor costs rose. Rice, bananas, and citrus fruits replaced the traditional crops of sugar, coffee, and cocoa. Exports of gold rose beginning in 1900. The Dutch Government gave little financial support to the colony. Suriname's economy was transformed in the years following World War I, when an American firm (ALCOA) began exploiting bauxite deposits in East Suriname. Bauxite processing and then alumina production began in 1916. During World War II, more than 75% of U.S. bauxite imports came from Suriname.

In 1951, Suriname began to acquire a growing measure of autonomy from the Netherlands. Suriname became an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on December 15, 1954, and gained independence, with Dutch consent, on November 25, 1975.