Location Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana

Geographic coordinates 4 00 N, 56 00 W

Map references South America

Area
total: 163,270 sq km
land: 161,470 sq km
water: 1,800 sq km

Area - comparative slightly larger than Georgia

Land boundaries
total: 1,707 km
border countries: Brazil 597 km, French Guiana 510 km, Guyana 600 km

Coastline 386 km

Maritime claims
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate tropical; moderated by trade winds

Terrain mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps

Elevation extremes
lowest point: unnamed location in the coastal plain -2 m
highest point: Wilhelmina Gebergte 1,286 m

Natural resources timber, hydropower potential, fish, kaolin, shrimp, bauxite, gold, and small amounts of nickel, copper, platinum, iron ore

Land use
arable land: NA
permanent crops: NA
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 96%
other: 4% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land 600 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards NA

Environment - current issues deforestation as timber is cut for export; pollution of inland waterways by small-scale mining activities

Environment - international agreements
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note mostly tropical rain forest; great diversity of flora and fauna which for the most part is increasingly threatened by new development; relatively small population most of which lives along the coast

NOTE: The information regarding Suriname on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Suriname Geography 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Suriname Geography 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.