Most Surinamese people live in the narrow, northern coastal plain. The population is one of the most ethnically varied in the world. Each ethnic group preserves its own culture, and many institutions, including political parties, tend to follow ethnic lines. Informal relationships vary: the upper classes of all ethnic backgrounds mix freely; outside of the elite, social relations tend to remain within ethnic groupings. All groups may be found in the schools and workplace.
Population
According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects[2][3] the total population was 612,985 in 2021, compared to only 215,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 28.6%, 65% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 6.5% was 65 years or older
.[4] According to 2012 census, there were 270,629 males and 271,009 females in Suriname.[5]
[6]
Structure of the population
Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 02.VIII.2004):[7]
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2011): [8]
Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 13.VIII.2012): [8]
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020): [8]
Vital statistics
The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates for Suriname.[4]
Births and deaths
Ethnic groups
The census used self-identification for ethnic classification.[18]
Amerindians are the original inhabitants of Suriname.
East Indians, also known locally as Hindustanis, are those whose ancestors emigrated from northern British India in the latter part of the 19th century.
Creoles are descendants from slaves from Africa. Prior to the 2004 census, mixed-race people were counted as Creoles.[citation needed] Their ancestors were brought to the country in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Maroons are descendants from slaves from Africa that escaped to the interior of Suriname. Their proportion has increased considerably during the past decades, from 9% in 1964 to 22% in 2012.
The current population of Suriname will be different to these census figures, as the census records residents, and notes legal visitors, but does not record illegal immigrants. According to estimates there may be as many as:
200 Jews who are identified in ethnoreligious terms.
Suriname has large American expatriate (mostly retiree) communities (about 50,000 Americans live in Suriname).
Also living in Suriname are Dutch citizens, some of which with a Surinamese background.
Fertility rate by ethnic group
The total fertility rate for Suriname as a whole was 2.53 children per woman aged 15 to 49 in 2012. Maroons had the highest fertility rate, with 4.47 children per woman. On the other hand, Indo-Surinamese had the lowest fertility with 1.78 children per woman.
Languages
Dutch is the official language of Suriname and the mother tongue of around 60% of the population. Sranan Tongo is the lingua franca and second most spoken language of Suriname.
English is mostly used in the business sector mainly to communicate with foreign businesses. It is also used in the hospitality industry to communicate with tourists.
Sarnami Hindustani is spoken by the Surinamese Indian community. Depending on the person this language can be either the mother tongue, second language or third language (after Dutch or Sranan Tongo).
Hakka and Cantonese is spoken by Surinamese Chinese, mainly as a second language after Dutch. Cantonese was introduced in Suriname by the second wave of Chinese immigrants in 1970. Beginning in the 1990s new migrants from China moved to Suriname, and Putonghua, during circa 2004–2014, became the main Chinese lingua franca in the country.
^ a b"World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX) ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
^ a b"World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Archived from the original on 6 May 2011.
^"Censusstatistieken 2012". Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek in Suriname (General Statistics Bureau of Suriname). Presentatie Definitieve Resultaten Census 8 Vol. 1, page 26. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
^"Downloads - Censusstatistieken 2012 - Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek in Suriname". Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
^ a b"United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics". Unstats.un.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
^ a b c"UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics". unstats.un.org. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
^"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^"Demographic and Social Statistics". UN Statistics Division. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
^ a b c"National Census Report: Suriname" (PDF). Caricom. 2009. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
^"National Census Report: Suriname" (PDF). Caricom. 2009. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2014. Except for the 1980 census, all censuses since the first in 1921 included ethnicity as a variable of interest. For unknown reasons, the government did not allow the Census Bureau to include this variable.
^"National report submitted in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 Suriname*". UN Human Rights Council. 16 February 2011. p. 7.
^"Censusstatistieken 2012" (PDF). Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek in Suriname (General Statistics Bureau of Suriname). p. 76. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
^ a b cWhere no separate figures are given, these people are included in Other.
^ a b c[citation needed]This is included in Other in the source
^"South America :: SURINAME". CIA The World Factbook. 20 October 2022.
^"REPORT ON CENSUS 2004 COVERAGE EVALUATION" (PDF). CENSUS OFFICE GENERAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS. 2006. p. 30.
^"With Aid and Migrants, China Expands Its Presence in a South American Nation". The New York Times. 10 April 2011.
^Resultaten achtste (8e) Volks- en woningtelling in Suriname (volume 1) : Demografische en sociale karakteristieken en migratie, 2013 (pdf, 7.8 MB, in Dutch); p. 24
^2012 Suriname Census Definitive Results Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek - Suriname.