History of Suriname

Suriname was first populated around 3000 BCE, when the first Native Americans came to the area. The most important tribe was the Arawak tribe, a nomadic tribe that lived from hunting and fishery.

The first Europeans came to Suriname in 1650, when English settlers were sent by Lord Willoughby[?], the governor of Barbados. The settlements were invaded by the Dutch, lead by Abraham Crijnsen[?]. In 1667, the English and Dutch signed the Treaty of Breda[?], in which the Dutch traded their colony New Amsterdam (currently New York) for Suriname. The colony was named Netherlands Guiana[?].

In the first half of the 18th century, agriculture flourished in Suriname. Most of the work on the plantations was done by African slaves. The treatment of these slaves was bad, and many slaves escaped to the jungle. These maroons sometimes returned to attack the plantations.

Suriname was occupied by the British in 1799 after the Netherlands were incorporated by France, and was returned to the Dutch in 1816, after the defeat of Napoleon. The Dutch abolished slavery only in 1863 - the last European nation to do so - although the British had already abolished it during their short rule. The slaves were however not released until 1873, up to that date they conducted obligatory but paid work at the plantations. In the meanwhile, many more workers had been imported from the Netherlands East Indies, mostly Chinese inhabitants of that colony. After 1873, also many Hindu laborers where imported from India. This emigration was ended by Mahatma Gandhi in 1916. After that date, many laborers were again imported from the Netherlands East Indies.

In the 20th century, the natural resources of Suriname, rubber, gold and bauxite were exploited. The US company ALCOA[?] had a claim on a large area in Suriname where bauxite, from which aluminium can be made, was found.

In 1973, the local government, led by the NPK[?] (a party of which mostly former Africans were member) started negotiations with the Dutch government about independence, which was granted at November 25, 1975. The first president of the country was Johan Ferrier[?]. Many Surinamese did not trust the independent Suriname and fled to The Netherlands.

After short period of political instability at the end of the seventies, a group of sixteen young militaries overtook the government in 1980. This revolution was welcomed by the population that expected that the new government installed by the army would end corruption and improve the standard of living in Suriname. The Dutch initially accepted the new government. However, the cooperation between Suriname and The Netherlands collapsed when 15 members of the political opposition were killed by the army at December 8, 1982. This event is also known as the December killings (Decembermoorden in Dutch).

The Dutch subsequently ceased their financial aid to their former colony. In 1987, democracy was reinstalled by the military government. In the same period, a maroon rebellion was lead by Ronnie Brunswijk[?]. His attacks caused killings among suspected supporters of him, and many maroons fled the country. In 1990 when an army led by Desi Bouterse sent home the government, but international pressure lead to new elections the following year. During the 1990s, political relations with the Netherlands were reinstated.