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 ...
is divided into 10 districts ( nl, districten).
Overview
History
The country was first divided up into subdivisions by the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
on October 8, 1834, when a Royal Decree declared that there were to be 8 divisions and 2 districts:
*Upper Suriname and Torarica
*Para
*Upper Commewijne
*Upper Cottica and Perica
*Lower Commewijne
*Lower Cottica
*Matapica
*Saramacca
*Coronie (district)
*Nickerie (district)
The divisions were areas near the
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...
,
Paramaribo
Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...
, and the districts were areas further away from the city.
In 1927, Suriname's districts were revised, and the country was divided into 7 districts. In 1943, 1948, 1949, 1952 and 1959 further small modifications were made. On October 28, 1966, the districts were redrawn again, into
*Nickerie
*Coronie
*Saramacca
*Brokopondo
*Para
*Suriname
*Paramaribo
*Commewijne
*Marowijne
These divisions remained until 1980, when yet again, the borders of the districts were redrawn, however, with the following requirements:
*Changes in the old boundaries were made only if it leads to improved functioning
*Each area should be developed
*The new boundaries should respect the identities of
indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
.
The last changes to the districts were in 1985.
See also
*
ISO 3166-2:SR
*
Resorts of Suriname
The ten districts of Suriname are divided into 63 resorts (Dutch: ''ressorten''). Within the capital city of Paramaribo, a resort entails a neighbourhood; in other cases it is more akin to a municipality, consisting of a central place with a few ...
*
List of Caribbean First-level Subdivisions by Total Area
This is a list of first-level country subdivisions within the Caribbean in order of total area. Those administrative divisions that are the largest within their respective countries are highlighted in bold. The list also contains first-level admin ...
References
External links
*
Subdivisions of Suriname
Suriname, Districts
Districts, Suriname
Suriname geography-related lists
{{Suriname-geo-stub