Suriname Geography - 2024

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: 163,820 sq km

land: 156,000 sq km

water: 7,820 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly larger than Georgia

Area comparison map:

Land boundaries

total: 1,907 km

border countries (3): Brazil 515 km; French Guiana 556 km; Guyana 836 km

Coastline

386 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate

tropical; moderated by trade winds

Terrain

mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps

Elevation

highest point: Juliana Top 1,230 m

lowest point: unnamed location in the coastal plain -2 m

mean elevation: 246 m

Natural resources

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

Land use

agricultural land: 0.5% (2018 est.)

arable land: 0.4% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 0.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 94.6% (2018 est.)

other: 4.9% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

600 sq km (2020)

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Amazon (6,145,186 sq km)

Population distribution

population concentrated along the nothern coastal strip; the remainder of the country is sparsely populated

Natural hazards

flooding

Geography - note

smallest independent country on South American continent; mostly tropical rain forest; great diversity of flora and fauna that, for the most part, is increasingly threatened by new development; relatively small population, mostly along the coast