Surinamese people

Surinamese people

Frank Rijkaard • Edgar Davids • Clarence Seedorf • Ruud Gullit • Dési Bouterse
Total population
Circa 900,000
Regions with significant populations
Suriname: 500,000 Netherlands: 350,000
Languages
Dutch, Sranan Tongo
Religion
Christianity (Roman Catholic, Protestants)

Surinamese people are the inhabitants of Suriname or people of Surinamese descent. Suriname had formerly been the colony of Dutch Guiana which was founded during the early 17th century. Following Suriname's independence in 1975, many Surinamers migrated to the Netherlands. A second wave of migrants relocated to the Netherlands during the 1980s while Suriname was under the military regime of Dési Bouterse.

Composition

The population of Suriname is a mixture of different ethnic groups:

• Amerindians, the original inhabitants of Suriname, form 3.7% of the population. The main groups being the Akuriyo, Arawak, Carib/Kaliña, Trío (Tiriyó), and Wayana. They live mainly in the districts of Paramaribo, Wanica, Maroni and Sipaliwini.
• Hindoestanen form the largest major group at 37% of the population. They are descendants of nineteenth-century contract workers from India. They are from the Indian states of Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, in Northern India, along the Nepali border.
• The Creoles form the middle group 31% of the population. They are the mixed descendants of West African slaves and Europeans (mostly Dutch).
• The Javanese (descendants of contract workers from the former Dutch East Indies on the island of Java, Indonesia) make up 15% (close to 90,000) of the population.
• Maroons (descendants of escaped West African slaves) make up 10% and are divided into five main groups: Ndyuka (Aucans), Kwinti, Matawai, Saramaccans and Paramaccans.
• Chinese, mainly descendants of the earliest nineteenth-century contract workers, 1.8% and number about 14,000.
• Boeroes (derived from boer, the Dutch word for farmer) are descendants of Dutch nineteenth-century immigrant farmers. Most Boeroes left after independence in 1975.
• Jews, mainly descendants of Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazi Jews. In their history plays Jodensavanne a major role. Many Jews are mixed with other populations.
• Lebanese, those are Surinamese people from the Middle East, they are for the most part Bcharre and Maronites in Lebanon. In Suriname, they prefer to call themselves Phoenicians. They are predominantly Roman Catholics.
• Brazilians, many of them gold miners. Most of the nearly 40,000 Brazilians living in Suriname arrived during the past several years.

The seventh census of Suriname in 2004 reported the following:

• 27.4% Hindustani,
• 17.7% Creole
• 14.6% Javanese (Southeast Asians)
• 12.5% Mixed descent
• 10.7% Maroons
• 9% White
• 2% Chinese
• 2% Amerindian

Population

Most of the approximate 500,000 inhabitants live in the north of the country, in the districts of Paramaribo, Wanica and Nickerie. The least populated county is Sipaliwini, which covers most of the nation's interior and is sparsely inhabited. More than half of the population lives in and around the capital.

In the Netherlands

Approximately 350,000 individuals of Surinamese descent live in the Netherlands, having variably arrived following Surinames independence in 1975, after the military coup of 1980, or after the December murders on 1982. Surinamers continued to migrate to the Netherlands throughout the 1990s because of the then poor economic situation in Suriname. Most Surinamese people in the Netherlands have a Dutch passport and the majority of which have been successfully integrated into Dutch society.

During the colonial era there was frequent migration between the Netherlands and Dutch Guiana. Initially this was mainly the colonial elite but expanded during the 1920s and 30s to the less fortunate inhabitants looking for better education, employment, or other opportunity.

6% of Netherlanders of Chinese descent can trace their ancestry through Suriname. Most of them are Hakka people.

Language

In Suriname there are no less than twenty languages spoken. Most Surinamers are multilingual. In terms of numbers of speakers are the main languages in Suriname, successively the Dutch language, the Surinamese language, the Sarnami (Surinamese Hindi), the Javanese language, different Maroon Languages (especially Saramaccan), and the Chinese language. Since most Surinamese people are multilingual (for instance the Dutch and Surinamese language), it is not easy for people to share in a particular language group.

According to the results of the seventh general population and housing census, which was held in 2004, Dutch is the most spoken home language in Suriname. In over 70% of households Dutch is spoken as the first or second language. Sranan Tongo is spoken primarily as a second language in 46% of households, along with 22% Sarnami Hindustani and 11% Javanese.

Spoken language per household in Suriname, 2004
Language	Most spoken home language		Second home language		Total coverage of the language
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Dutch	57.577	46.6	29.163	23.6	86.740	70.3
Surinamese (Sranan Tongo)	11.105	9.0	45.634	37.0	56.739	46.0
Sarnami Hindustani	19.513	15.8	8.121	6.6	27.634	22.4
Javanese	6.895	5.6	6.846	5.5	13.741	11.1
Maroon languages	18.797	15.2	2.493	2.0	21.290	17.2
Other languages	6.501	5.3	4.030	3.3	10.531	8.5
No second home language	-	-	23.754	19.2
Unknown	3.075	2.5	3.422	2.8
Total	123.463	100.0	123.463	100.0
Source: Seventh general population and housing census 2004, Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek

Dutch

Dutch is the official language of Suriname and the first language of at least 60% of the population. As such, Suriname is a member of the Dutch Language Union. It is the official language of government, education, marketing, media, and in everyday communication.

Surinamese or Sranan Tongo

The lingua franca is Sranan Tongo, which literally means "Surinamese language." It was originally the language of the Creole population, but is now widely understood and even spoken by much of the populace (an estimated 90% of the Surinamese population can speak the language). Surinamese is linguistically a creole language, and has mainly been confined to a spoken language throughout its history, though it has grown in literary usage during the last decade.

Overview

An overview of the languages spoken in Suriname, with the number of native speakers (rough estimate, double counting by two-or multilingualism)

• Languages of Asia
  • Sarnami Hindustani (150,000), Surinamese variant of the Caribbean Hindustani, which emerged from and is related to the Indo-Aryan Bihari languages, especially Bhojpuri, spoken in the current India se states Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
  • Javanese (60,000)
  • Chinese (12,000)
  • Lebanese-Arabic (small number of speakers)

• Creole languages:
  • Surinamese or Sranan Tongo (120,000)
  • Saramaccan (12,500)
  • Matawai (2000).
  • Aucan or Ndyuka (15,500), including Paramaccan and Boni or Aloekoe
  • Kwinti (small number of speakers)
• Languages of America, divided into three language families:
  • The Karaïben, the Kalina or Karaïbisch (2000), the Trio and Wayana (together 600 speakers)
  • Arowak languages: Lokono (Arowaks, 1200)

• Languages of Europe
  • Dutch (300,000)
  • English, mainly as a second language
  • Brazilian Portuguese, an estimated 40,000 speakers.

Religion

The following religious statistics have been reported as of 2010:

• 48% Christianity (25.2% Protestant and 22.8% Roman Catholic)
• 27.4% Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma and Arya Samaj)
• 19.6% Islam (Sunni and Ahmadiyya)
• 5% Indigenous or animist