DUTCH GUIANA Dutch Guiana or Surinam is a colony of Holland, on the north coast of South America between 2° and 6° N. latitude and 53° 50' and 58° 20' E. longitude. It is bounded on the east by French Guiana, on the south by Brazil, on the west by British Guiana, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Area, 54,291 sq. miles. The Atlantic coast line is about 240m., the port of the colony being Paramaribo, the capital.
The five main rivers are the Corentyn or Corentyne (Dutch, Corantijn), the Maroni (Dutch, Marowijne), on the border with French Guiana, and the Coppename, Saramacca and Surinam. All flow northward. The Corentyne is navigable for about Tom. and vessels of six-foot draft can ascend it for 150 miles. The Surinam and Maroni are also navigable, the former for loom. to I o foot draft, and the latter for 4o miles. The interior is cut with hills, rising to 3,80o feet in the mountain known as Wil helmina Kette, in the west. The mountainous, forested region to the south, and along the border with Brazil, is virtually un explored. Geology and climate, flora and fauna, are described under the general heading of the Guianas.
Education and Charities.—There is a government normal school with 97 pupils (1926), 35 public schools with 5,268 pupils and 58 private schools with Io,1o8 pupils. The government sup ports in whole or in part various orphan asylums and religious and other philanthropical institutions.
Religious Denominations.—The following were the different religious bodies (1926) : Reformed and Lutheran, 11,556; Mo ravian, 29,170; Roman Catholic, 24,062; Jews, 75o; Mohamme dans, 34,536; Hindus, 20,719.
Government.—Dutch Guiana is the only Dutch possession on the continent of South America. It is a colony administered by an appointed governor, who is president of an executive council nominated by the crown. The legislative body is the Colonial States, the 13 members of which are chosen for six years by local electors. The colony is divided into 16 districts, for ad ministrative and fiscal purposes. For the administration of justice there are three cantonal courts, two district courts and a supreme court at Paramaribo ; the members of this court are nominated by the crown. There is a civic guard of about 1,800 and a militia of Soo, with a small garrison.
Finance.—The expenses of government are derived from im port, export and excise duties, taxes on property and incomes and by a subvention from the Dutch Government, which varies to make up the deficit between expenditures and income. The budget of four years in Dutch florins, the currency of the colony, is as follows: Economics and Trade.—The chief products are agricultural, in cluding sugar (with rum and molasses), coffee, cacao, rice and maize. The mineral products are gold and bauxite. Balata is the only important forest product, in spite of the number and quan tity of precious woods and gums contained in the '. irtually un explored timbered regions. Sugar has always been the principal item of export, and so continues. The 1925 sugar exports reached a total of 13,973,740 kg., as compared with exports of 7,658,701 kg. in 1924. In 1926 the exports fell again, owing in part at least to the general downward tendency of the world sugar market, the total exports for that year being Io,236,62o kilograms. Coffee is now the second export crop of Surinam. In 1925 the exports were 1,893,072 kilograms. Cacao, once a major export item of Dutch Guiana, has been seriously affected by the witches' broom disease. In 1926, the total exports were 470,092 kilograms. Maize and rice are raised chiefly for local use.
Balata is the chief forest product. In 1926 exports were 470,092 kilograms. Some 2.50o natives are engaged in its ex traction, which is pursued without much respect to the conserva tion of the supply, a practice that may account in part for the falling exports, for the world demand continues and increases. The gold workings of Dutch Guiana date only from 1876, and are still almost entirely placer, although there are one or two dredges in operation. The peak of production was in 1912, when some 38,000 oz. were shipped. This has progressively declined, only 250,656 g. being exported in 1926. The exploitation of the mineral bauxite began on a commercial scale in 1923. The mines are located zoo m. south-east of Paramaribo, and the ore is loaded direct on the ocean steamers, and is shipped almost entirely to the United States. The production fell from 86,826 tons in 1925 to 46,454 tons in 1926.
Imports include foodstuffs and textiles, cotton goods constitut ing the largest single item. The colony is virtually without produce for manufacture, and the imports rise close to the ex ports in all years. The trade figures follow: Holland is chief customer, taking some 67% of its products. British imports, like its exports, are confused by the tranship ment trade between British Guiana and the Dutch colony. It is noted that British Guiana, for instance, shows a larger total of exports of textiles to Dutch Guiana than does Great Britain. Holland also leads as the country of origin of imports into Dutch Guiana, with the United States second.
Communications.—Paramaribo the only seaport is served by various steamship lines from Europe and the United States. There is local steamship service from Paramaribo to the small ports of Nickerie, Gattice, Albina, etc., and government steamers also go each week to Georgetown, British Guiana. The rivers furnish the chief means of interior communication. They are joined by cross channels and canals. River transportation is not satisfactory as droughts make it uncertain and the rainy season causes floods. There is one railway, the Lawa, 107 m. long, from Paramaribo to Dam. One train a week is operated, and most of the freight and traffic comes from the gold fields. Highways are in a primitive stage of development, the only important road, some 35 km., having been built by private capital for the service of the gold mines. The plantations and the towns are all located on the rivers.
History.—The political history is uneventful, after the periods described in the general history of Guiana. In 1828, Surinam and the islands of the Dutch West Indies were administrated by a single governor, residing at Paramaribo. This arrangement lasted until 1848, when the administration was separated. Slavery was abolished in 1863 and the arrangement with the British for the control of the coolie traffic was drawn up in 1870. The interest of the Dutch government in this colony, which had waned with its dropping production of sugar through most of the 19th century has been renewed. Expeditions for scientific study, laboratories and establishments for agricultural research, expositions of pro ducts from Surinam in Holland, have been evidence of this interest.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-The literature in English is scarce and much of it Bibliography.-The literature in English is scarce and much of it inaccurate. The most recent book is James Rodway's, Guiana, British, Dutch and French (1924). The United States Department of Com merce issued, in 1927, a booklet The Guianas, Commercial and Eco nomic Survey. The commercial side is also treated in various books on commerce and trade in the Caribbean countries and South America. The following authorities on historical and other phases are to be cited: of the older works on Surinam the first rank is held by Jan Jacob Hartsinck's Beschryving van Guiana, of de Wilde Kust, in Zuid Amerika. Extracts from this work, selected for their bearing upon British boundary questions, were translated and annotated by J. A. J. de Villiers (London, 1897) . L. Thompson, Overzicht der Geschiedenis van Suriname (The Hague, 1901) ; Surinaamsche Almanak (Para maribo, annually) .