James Baquet We have already visited Guyana (formerly British Guiana) and French Guiana. Now let’s go to the land between the two, Suriname, which was called Dutch Guiana until its partial independence from the Netherlands in 1954. That “constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands” gained full independence in 1975. Until then it had depended on the mother country for defense and foreign policy, among other matters. The common element in these three former colonies’ original names — “Guiana” — comes from a local language and means “land of many waters.” There were originally five Guianas. From west to east they were: Spanish Guiana, now part of Venezuela, British, Dutch and French Guiana (officially just “Guiana” — “French” is an extraneous distinguisher), and Portuguese Guiana, now part of Brazil. The three central countries are still called “the Guianas.” Brazil lies to the south of all three, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname’s full slogan declares it “a colorful experience, exotic beyond words.” And that it is. The smallest country in South America, and ranking only 242nd of 255 in population density, Suriname has one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse populations in the world. No single group has a majority, the largest — East Indians — being only 27 percent. Though Dutch is the official language, five more are recognized, spoken mainly in the more populated north: Sarnami Hindustani (the local version of a language from India), English, Sranan Tongo (an English-based creole and the country’s lingua franca), Javanese (from Indonesia) and Saramaccan (another creole, this one composed of English, Portuguese and several African languages). In addition, nine regional languages of native origin are recognized. Suriname was once dependent on a plantation economy requiring the use of African slaves and, later, indentured servants mainly from India and Indonesia (as mentioned, 27 percent of the population are East Indians, and 14 percent are Javanese). The economy today centers on mining, agriculture and ecotourism. Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. a new language blended from two or more others 2. in terms of race, origin, etc. 3. travel to appreciate nature 4. not a required part of something 5. part, piece 6. things of importance 7. very large farm 8. people laboring under a long-term contract, almost like slaves 9. something used to set things apart 10. more than 50 percent of something |