Districts of Suriname

Buy data    Donate

Updates: 

I found the 2004 census figures for the districts of Suriname at the General Bureau of Statistics  website.

For consistency, I've added the district areas in square miles to the main table.

Country overview: 

Short nameSURINAME
ISO codeSR
FIPS codeNS
LanguageDutch (nl)
Time zone-3
CapitalParamaribo

 

Suriname began the 20th century as a colony of the Netherlands. It became an integral part of the Netherlands on 1954-12-29, and then an independent country on 1975-11-25.

Other names of country: 

  1. Danish: Surinam, Republikken Surinam (formal), Hollandsk Guyana (obsolete)
  2. Dutch: Suriname, Republiek Suriname (formal)
  3. English: Republic of Suriname (formal), Dutch Guiana (obsolete), Netherlands Guiana (obsolete), Surinam (obsolete)
  4. Finnish: Suriname
  5. French: Suriname m
  6. German: Suriname n
  7. Icelandic: Súrínam
  8. Italian: Suriname m
  9. Norwegian: Surinam, Republikken Surinam (formal)
  10. Portuguese: Suriname, República f do Suriname m (formal)
  11. Spanish: Surinam, República f de Suriname (formal)
  12. Sranantongo: Sranan
  13. Swedish: Surinam

Primary subdivisions: 

Suriname is divided into ten distrikten (sing. distrikt: districts).

DistrictHASCFIPSPopulationArea(km.²)Area(mi.²)Capital
BrokopondoSR.BRNS1014,2157,3642,843Brokopondo
CommewijneSR.CMNS1124,6492,353908Nieuw Amsterdam
CoronieSR.CRNS122,8873,9021,507Totness
MarowijneSR.MANS1316,6424,6271,786Albina
NickerieSR.NINS1436,6395,3532,067Nieuw Nickerie
ParaSR.PRNS1518,7495,3932,082Onverwacht
ParamariboSR.PMNS16242,94618270Paramaribo
SaramaccaSR.SANS1715,9803,6361,404Groningen
SipaliwiniSR.SINS1834,136130,56750,412Paramaribo
WanicaSR.WANS1985,986443171Lelydorp
10 districts492,829163,82063,251
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. If periods are
    replaced by hyphens, these are the same as the district codes
    from ISO standard 3166-2.
  • FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4, a U.S. government standard.
  • Population: 2004-08-02 census.

Further subdivisions:

See the Ressorts of Suriname page.

The districts are subdivided into ressorten (ressorts).

Change history: 

The Dutch have always called Suriname by that name. English speakers have called it Dutch Guiana, Netherlands Guiana, Surinam, and Suriname. There was no fixed date at which one name replaced another.

  1. 1834-10-08: By royal decree, Suriname was divided into eight divisions (Lower Commewijne, Lower Cottica, Matapica, Para, Saramacca, Upper Commewijne, Upper Cottica and Perica, and Upper Suriname and Torarica) and two districts (Coronie and Nickerie).
  2. 1927: Suriname was reorganized into the following seven districts:
DistrictPop-1941Pop-1952Area(km.²)Capital
Commewijne25,96321,8185,216Nieuw Amsterdam
Coronie4,2784,2251,497Totness
Marowijne3,7155,31140,166Albina
Nickerie15,65019,28049,464Nieuw Nickerie
Paramaribo56,23386,40013Paramaribo
Saramacca9,86611,42325,571Groningen
Suriname46,37763,77320,893Paramaribo
7 districts183,730237,930142,820
  • District: Rural districts, except for Paramaribo, which was an
    urban district.
  • Population: 1941 estimate (source: Encyclopædia Britannica
    World Atlas, 1951 edition), and 1952 estimate (1957 edition).
    Totals include indigenous people not enumerated in any district.
  1. 1954-12-29: Suriname became an overseas territory of the Netherlands. As such, it was an integral part of the Netherlands, with some autonomy.
  2. 1958: Brokopondo district split from Suriname district.
  3. 1964-03-31: Census taken.
  4. 1966-09-08: Para district split from Suriname district. (One source says 1966-10-28; another, 1968.) The resulting division of Suriname was:
DistrictFIPSPop-1971Pop-1980Area(km.²)Capital
BrokopondoNS0117,00020,24921,440Brokopondo
CommewijneNS0219,00014,3514,110Nieuw Amsterdam
CoronieNS033,0002,7771,620Totness
MarowijneNS0426,00023,40245,980Albina
NickerieNS0535,00034,48064,610Nieuw Nickerie
ParaNS0618,00014,867980Onverwacht
ParamariboNS07102,00067,90532Paramaribo
SaramaccaNS0814,00010,33523,420Groningen
SurinameNS09152,000166,4941,628Paramaribo
9 districts379,607354,860163,820
  • District: Rural districts, except for Paramaribo, which was an urban district.
  • Pop-1971: 1972-01-01 census. Source: Encyclopædia Britannica, 1984 edition.
  • Pop-1980: 1980-07-01 census. Sources: Almanaque Mundial, 1992 edition,
    and The Statesman's Year-Book.
  1. 1975-11-25: Suriname became independent.
  2. 1985: Suriname was reorganized. Suriname district was divided among Commewijne, Para, Saramacca, and the new Wanica district. Sipaliwini district was formed from large parts of Brokopondo, Marowijne, Nickerie, and Saramacca districts, constituting almost four-fifths of the country, all in the south. Other borders were adjusted. One site says that Sipaliwini was originally called Binnenland (= inland), and later renamed.
Back to main statoids page Last updated: 2007-09-30
Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 by Gwillim Law. All rights reserved.