Suriname (country), country in northeastern South America that borders the Atlantic Ocean. Before 1975 Suriname was a dependency of the Netherlands and was called Dutch Guiana or Netherlands Guiana. Suriname has an area of 163,265 sq km (63,037 sq mi), making it the smallest independent country in South America. The capital and only major urban area is Paramaribo.

Suriname has an ethnically mixed population as a consequence of the colonial plantation system of past centuries. Plantations that grew sugarcane and other crops first relied on slave labor from Africa. After the abolition of slavery, laborers were brought in from India, Indonesia, and elsewhere in Asia. Today, more than half of Suriname’s people are of Asian ancestry. Creoles, of mixed African and European ancestry, also make up a large part of the population.