Independence Day - Republic of Suriname - 25th of November

Flag of Suriname

Coat of arms of Suriname



In 1975 on November 25th, the area known as Dutch Guyana was officially granted it's independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  It had been a colony of the Netherlands since the 1600.  Suriname is one of the only four countries where Spanish is not the official language and it is also the only one that is surrounded by countries that are not Spanish speaking.

Unfortunately, like many counties in South America, Suriname has had it's share of chaos after but seems to be much more stabilized now.  The former dictator believed to be responsible for the deaths of many who opposed the government during his rule is standing trail in the country.

As a side note, I remember while in school studying geography, now I was not the greatest at this subject but do remember learning about Dutch Guyana.  Now I am not that old, I could not have learned about the the nation till after 1976 so it just goes to show that education early needs to keep up with the state of the world, how else are we to understand and relate to others around the world if we do not even know what countries populate the world.

Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname

Additional links:
U.S. Embassy: http://www.surinameembassy.org/
U.N. Mission: http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/suriname/cache/offonce/pid/2879;jsessionid=29C6C44ED6E5A45EE7478678C