Suriname

North AmericaCapital city: ParamariboCapital metro: ParamariboPresident: Jennifer Geerlings-Simons
2026 population
617K
Rank #175 globally
Area
164k km² (63k sq mi)
Metros tracked
1
39% of population in metros
Composite score
0.3
Rank #216 globally

population: Official estimate (1 Jul 2021) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 1 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography1 metro

Suriname metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
1 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 1 tracked metro
1 metros
#2182Paramaribo★ Capital▲ Largest
Paramaribo · 241K · Local Metro
0.3
🗂️ Districts

10 entries listed under Suriname. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

10 total
📋 At a glance
Official language
Dutch
Government
Republic
Legislature
National Assembly
Demonym
Surinamese
Time zone
UTC−03:00
Driving side
Left
Calling code
+597
Internet TLD
.sr
ISO 3166
SR
Established
1975
Highest point
Julianatop (1,280 m (4,199 ft))
National anthem
God zij met ons Suriname

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Suriname

Dutch first; 2 languages share the country; 1 official.

LanguageShareStatus
Dutch90%Official
Sranan Tongo68%None
Mandarin Chinese1.1%None
Hmong Njua0.4%None

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

Effective languages
1.0
Official-language gap
10%
Dutch is spoken by 90%

Suriname on the languages board · Language power

💹 Economy and developmentUpper middle income
Human Dev. Index
#113 / 191
0.722
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#163 / 193
$4.5B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#100 / 193
$7.1k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#85 / 190
$22.7k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#107 / 192
$6.1k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#98 / 194
73.8 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
28.1 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#87 / 194
66%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
0.9%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#188 / 193
4/km² (10/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#71 / 193
8.2%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#49 / 175
0.80
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#115 / 166
39.2
World Bank · 2022
Internet users
#72 / 193
87%
World Bank · 2023
Inflation
#161 / 185
9.2%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#134 / 192
4.7 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#64 / 186
53%
Ember · 2024

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations3 full memberships

Political & Economic

Regional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History26 leaders · click to expand
Jennifer Geerlings-Simons✦ Current
President · 0y 11m
2025–Present
Chan Santokhi
President · 5y 0m
2020–2025
Dési Bouterse
President · 9y 11m
2010–2020
Ronald Venetiaan
President · 10y 0m
2000–2010
Jules Wijdenbosch
President · 3y 10m
1996–2000
Ronald Venetiaan
President · 4y 11m
1991–1996
Johan Kraag
President · 0y 8m
1990–1991
Ramsewak Shankar
President · 2y 10m
1988–1990
Jules Wijdenbosch
Prime Minister · 0y 9m
1987–1988
Pretaap Radhakishun
Prime Minister · 0y 8m
1986–1987
Wim Udenhout
Prime Minister · 2y 5m
1984–1986
Errol Alibux
Prime Minister · 0y 10m
1983–1984
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#206 · 0.0%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
629k
#171 in the world
Since 1800
7.79×
from 81k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.01%
0.01% in 1800
161k323k484k645k18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Suriname: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
2071
753k on the UN median
2050
734k
95% band 428k to 1.2m
2100
709k
95% band 152k to 4.1m
2100 against 2025
1.11×
median falling from 2072
Deaths outnumber births
from 2076
on the UN medium path; migration decides the rest
1.1m2.2m3.2m4.3m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
8k born · 4k died · -631 net migration
TFR 6.21 · life expectancy 50.7 · median age 17.9
1960
12k born · 4k died · +544 net migration
TFR 6.59 · life expectancy 56.6 · median age 17.0
1970
13k born · 4k died · +4k net migration
TFR 5.53 · life expectancy 59.5 · median age 14.5
1980
11k born · 4k died · -7k net migration
TFR 3.79 · life expectancy 60.7 · median age 17.3
1990
12k born · 3k died · -6k net migration
TFR 3.23 · life expectancy 62.1 · median age 19.8
2000
12k born · 4k died · +2k net migration
TFR 3.05 · life expectancy 64.4 · median age 23.0
2010
11k born · 4k died · -1k net migration
TFR 2.69 · life expectancy 69.6 · median age 25.4
2020
11k born · 4k died · -296 net migration
TFR 2.31 · life expectancy 72.3 · median age 27.5

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Suriname on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.