The Lely Mountains (
Dutch: ''Lelygebergte'',
Ndyuka: ''Ando Busiman Mongo'') are a mountain
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
on the left bank of the
Tapanahony
Tapanahoni is a resort in Suriname, located in the Sipaliwini District. Its population at the 2012 census was 13,808. Tapanahoni is a part of Sipaliwini which has no capital, but is directly governed from Paramaribo. Tapanahony is an enormous r ...
and
Marowijne rivers in
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 ...
. The plateau has a maximum altitude of about . In 2005, 25 new species were discovered in the Lely Mountains.
The mountain range is served by the
Lelygebergte Airstrip.
Name
The mountain range is named after
Cornelis Lely
Cornelis Lely (; 23 September 1854 – 22 January 1929) was a Dutch politician of the Liberal Union (LU) and civil engineer. He oversaw the passage of an act of parliament authorising construction of the Zuiderzee Works, a huge project – desi ...
, a former
governor of Suriname
This is a list of colonial governors of Suriname, a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname was first colonized by the British ...
. The
Ndyuka maroons call the mountains the ''Ando Busiman Mongo'' after the famed Ndyuka explorer Ando Busiman.
References
Notes
Bibliography
{{Suriname-geo-stub
Mountain ranges of Suriname