1121, 1524 SURINAME - Arawak people

Surinamese beauty in amerindian cultural clothing

Posted on 27.06.2014, 12.04.2015
According to the 2012 census, only 3.7% of the population of Suriname are of indigenous ancestry, whitch means about 20,000 people. The main ethnic groups of original inhabitants can be devided into the lowland and upland ones. The lowland Amerindians are the Arawak and the Caraiben, whilst there are three groups of Amerindians who can be considered as the upland ones namely, the Wayanas, the Trioes and the Akurioe, who live mainly in the South-Eastern portion of the country. Very few of them still leading a traditional way of life, mostly being influenced by western culture.

Arawaks celebrating the International Day of the World's Indigenous People

 

The International Day of the World's Indigenous People (9 August) was first proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1994, to be celebrated every year during the first International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2004). In 2004, the Assembly proclaimed a Second International Decade (2005-2014) with the theme of "A Decade for Action and Dignity." There was the proposal to fixed this day instead the Columbus Day, regarded by indigenous peoples rather as a day of mourning, than to feast, but the General Assembly preferred to avoid upsetting some member nations.

1103 SURINAME - The map and the flag of the country

As I wrote here, the Guianas (Las Guayanas in spanish) refers to a region which includes French Guiana, Guyana (former British Guiana), Suriname (former Dutch Guiana), the Guayana Region in Venezuela (former Spanish Guyana), and Brazilian State of Amapá (former Portuguese Guiana). Colonized by the English and the Dutch in the 17th century, Suriname was captured by the Dutch in 1667, who governed it as Dutch Guiana until 1954, when became one of the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and in 1975 an independent country. It is the smallest sovereign state in South America, with a population of only 566,000, most of whom live on the country's north coast, where the capital Paramaribo is located. Founded at the beginning of the 17th century, Paramaribo houses more than half of Suriname's population, and the historic inner city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002.