Onverwacht (
Dutch for "unexpected".
Sranan Tongo: ''Bose'') is the capital town of
Para District
Para is a district of northern Suriname. Para's capital city is Onverwacht, with other towns including Paranam, and Zanderij. Para has a population of 24,700 and an area of 5,393 km2. The district is the mining and forestry centre of Surin ...
,
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 ...
.
Onverwacht started as a wood plantation with the same name and has existed as early as 1667.
On 18 May 1881, the plantation was sold to eight former slaves.
In 1910 the
Lawa Railway
The Lawa Railway (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Lawaspoorweg'' or later ''Landsspoorweg'') was a single-track metre gauge railway in Suriname. It was built during the gold rush in the early 20th century, from the harbour town Paramaribo to Dam at the ...
passed through the area and a station was opened.
In 1936, a road, currently named Indira Gandhiweg, was built parallel to the railway line to connect Paramaribo with Onverwacht. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the road was extended to
Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport. In 1968, Onverwacht became the capital of the newly formed Para District. In 1987, the last train departed and the station at Onverwacht closed.
Notable people
*
Humbert Boerleider (1935-2016), football manager and player.
References
External links
Populated places in Para District
{{Suriname-geo-stub