Paramaribo
The street Waterkant in Paramaribo
Nickname(s): Par'bo
Paramaribo The location of Paramaribo in Suriname
Coordinates: 5°52′N 55°10′W / 5.867°N 55.167°W / 5.867; -55.167Coordinates: 5°52′N 55°10′W / 5.867°N 55.167°W / 5.867; -55.167
Country	Suriname
District	Paramaribo District
Population (2011)
• Total	244,946
Time zone	ART (UTC-3)

Paramaribo (nickname: Par′bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 250,000 people, more than half of Suriname's population. The historic inner city of Paramaribo has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002.

History[link]

1830s lithograph of the market

The area, a trading post started by the Dutch, was taken by the English in 1630, and in 1650 the city became the capital of the new English colony. The area changed hands often between the English and Dutch but it was in Dutch hands again in 1667 and under Dutch rule from 1815 until the independence of Suriname in 1975.

On January 1821, a fire in the city centre destroyed over 400 houses and other buildings.

A second fire in September 1832 destroyed another 46 houses on the western part of the Waterkant.

In 1943, a military plane crashed on its way to North Africa near the city, killing two FBI Agents and other 33 people that were on board. The cause of the aircraft accident was never determined and nearly no remains of the 35 people aboard were found.^[1]

On 7 June 1989, the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (about 30 km south of Paramaribo) became the crash site of Surinam Airways Flight 764, a Douglas DC-8. This aeroplane crashed on approach to the runway, killing 176 of the 178 passengers and 9 crew members.

The citizens are chiefly of African, Asian Indian, indigenous, Javanese, Chinese and Dutch descent.

Geography[link]

Astronaut View of Paramaribo

The city is located on the Suriname River, approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) inland from the Atlantic Ocean, in the Paramaribo district.

Climate[link]

Paramaribo features a tropical rainforest climate, under the Köppen climate classification. The city has no true dry season, all 12 months of the year average more than 60 mm of precipitation, but the city does experience noticeably wetter and drier periods during the year. September through November is the driest period of the year in Paramaribo. Common to many cities with this climate, temperatures are relatively consistent throughout the course of the year, with average high temperatures of 31 degrees Celsius and average low temperatures of 22 degrees Celsius. Paramaribo on average sees roughly 2200 mm of rain each year.

Demographics[link]

Historic Inner City of Paramaribo *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country	Suriname
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv
Reference	940
Region **	Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription history
Inscription	2002 (26th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

Paramaribo has a population of roughly 250,000 people, more than half of the population of Suriname.

Paramaribo is famed for its diverse ethnic makeup, including Creoles, Hindustani, East Indians, Maroons, Javanese, Portuguese, Native Americans, Levantine, Chinese, and other Europeans (primarily of Dutch and English descent).

Economy[link]

The city's major exports are gold, bauxite, sugar cane, rice, cacao, coffee, rum, and tropical woods. Cement and paint are manufactured in the city.^{[citation needed]}

Blue Wing Airlines has its head office on the grounds of Zorg en Hoop Airport in Paramaribo.^[3]

Transport[link]

Paramaribo is served by the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport and Zorg en Hoop Airport for local flights. The Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge, which is part of the East-West Link, connects Paramaribo with Meerzorg on the other side of the Suriname River.

Culture[link]

On Sundays and holidays there is a popular bird song competition. Suriname has only one cinema, which is located in the capital.

Notable landmarks[link]

Paramaribo's Neve Shalom Synogogue

Helstone Monument

The National Assembly of Suriname

Tailor's shop, Paramaribo, 1955

• Suriname Mosque
• National Assembly of Suriname
• Neveh Shalom Synagogue
• Roman Catholic St Peter and St Paul Cathedral
• The Arya Dewaker Hindu Temple

Sports[link]

Paramaribo is the birthplace of several football players; some of them later represented the Netherlands:

• Andwélé Slory
• Aron Winter
• Clarence Seedorf
• Edgar Davids
• Fabian Wilnis
• Henk Fräser
• Jerry de Jong
• Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
• Kelvin Leerdam
• Jeremain Lens
• Maarten Atmodikoro
• Mark de Vries
• Regi Blinker
• Romeo Castelen
• Stanley Menzo
• Ulrich van Gobbel
• Mitchell Tjin-fooh
• Edson Braafheid

Other sports such as tennis, golf, and basketball are also commonly played in Suriname.

Sister cities[link]

• Antwerp, Belgium.
• Hangzhou, China.
• Willemstad, Curaçao.^[4]
• Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

References[link]

External links[link]

• (English) Audio interview with Paramaribo resident about life in Paramaribo

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Peter Donders. (Discuss) Proposed since August 2011.

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2011)

Peerke Norbert Donders, C.Ss.R. (October 27, 1809 – January 14, 1887) was a Dutch priest who was beatified in 1982.

Early life[link]

Donders was born in Tilburg, Netherlands, the eldest son of the house Arnold weaver Donders and Petronella Brekke. Child labor in those days was quite common, and Donders Sat a boy of twelve from behind the loom. His dream of becoming a priest could not come, his parents had no money for. After 1831, he was declared unfit for military service, he asked the priest to help him. He was servant to the minor seminary in St. Beekvliet Michielsgestel, and was subsequently admitted for his zeal for the seminary. During his further studies at the seminary at Haaren, Bishop Grooff from Suriname to visit. These priests were looking for the mission in Suriname. Thunder was the only one who came. To the satisfaction of his superiors, moreover, that the stranger in our midst preferred to leave. Image in Tilburg

Missionary work[link]

On June 5, 1841, he was ordained early, 31 years old, and on August 1, 1842, he went to Suriname to work among leprosy patients. He was appointed chaplain in Paramaribo, and in a leprosy colony located on the former plantation on the river Coppename Batavia. In 1856 he was finally transferred to Batavia. On June 24, 1867, he laid the monastic vows, and he joined the Congregation of the Redemptorists. During the period he made mission trips to the Indians in the interior until 1882 he was called back to Paramaribo. From 1883 to 1885 there was a cedar cathedral was built, St. Peter and Paul Cathedral. In October 1885, Thunders re-sent to Batavia. There he received on January 1, 1887 to uremia, and he died on January 14, 77 years old.

His remains were initially in the cemetery of the leper colony buried on July 28, 1900 but was buried behind the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Paramaribo. On January 17, 1921 was again reburied, this time in a tomb in the left wing of the cathedral.

Beatification[link]

Donders' birth house in Tilburg was reconstructed in 1930 on the old foundations, and a well, and they were not heard at the cottage, built a chapel in procession park. On May 23, 1982 Donders was beatified after Pope John Paul II in 1979 had already confirmed that in 1929 a child through the intercession of Donders was cured of bone cancer.

The foundation supports Peerke Donders leprosy projects in Southeast Asia. Furthermore, including a scouting and a first aid society to Peerke Donders named.

Donders in fiction[link]

In 2009 a movie about the life of Peerke Donders. This film is called "His life, his letters".