Calcutta is a

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

, located in the

Saramacca District Saramacca is a district of Suriname, in the north. Saramacca's capital city is Groningen, with other towns and cities including Batavia, Kampong Baroe, Uitkijk, Maho and Boskamp. Saramacca has a population of 17,480 and an area of 3,636 km2. ...

. Its population at the 2012 census was 1,647, and is mainly inhabited by

East Indians The East Indians, also called East Indian Catholics or Bombay East Indians, are an ethno-religious Indian Christian community native to the Seven Islands of Bombay and the neighbouring Mumbai Metropolitan Area of the Konkan Division. Histo ...

. The town is named after

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, India. From 1873 onwards, indentured workers were recruited from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to work the plantations. Most of the workers departed from Calcutta. About one third returned to India, but most decided to stay in Suriname. Calcutta is the place where

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

was discovered in 1965 which marked the beginning of

Staatsolie Staatsolie, officially Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname (), is a Surinamese oil and gold company which was established to execute the oil policy which includes exploration, drilling and processing oil. In 2014 Staatsolie expanded its business to ...

, the national oil and gold company. Calcutta is a major centre of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

cultivation. The resorts also contains the village of Boskamp and the indigenous village of

Kalebaskreek Kalebaskreek is an indigenous village of Kalina Amerindians in the resort of Calcutta in the Saramacca District in Suriname. History Kalebaskreek is a fishing village on the Coppename River. The village can only be reached by boat. It is locate ...

. The former

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

colony of

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

is located in the resort.

References

External links

Resorts of Suriname Populated places in Saramacca District {{Suriname-geo-stub