Suriname Essay

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The Dutch originally settled Suriname in 1667, after acquiring it from the British in exchange for what would later become New York City, then known as New Amsterdam. Coffee and sugar plantations were created and worked by slaves that were brought in from Africa, however slavery was abolished in 1863, leading to indentured servants being brought in from China and Java (BBC News 2012). Plantations became less important as labor costs were rising, so rice, bananas and citrus replaced coffee, sugar and cocoa as traditional crop exports.
Following World War I, Suriname’s economy began to change as the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) found bauxite deposits and began exporting them. Almost 75% of all bauxite that the United States imported came from Suriname. In 1954, Suriname became autonomous in the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Michigan State University 2011).
They finally gained their independence in 1975 under the first Prime Minister, Henck Arron. Five years after received their independence from the Netherlands, they were taken over by a military regime and became a socialist republic, led by military leader Desire Bouterse. In 1982, after the murder of 15 important opposition leaders, both the United States and the Netherlands cut off any financial aid that was previously being given to the country. This caused the economy to take a nosedive and in 1987, after increasing economic pressure arose, a democratic election took place (Central Intelligence Agency 2014).
On May 25, 1991, Ronald Venetiaan was elected President with Jules Ajodhia becoming Vice President, bringing the New Front Coalition (NF) into power. Through the next through years, Venetiaan instituted various economic policies that helped to reduce inflation and...

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... Secondary Education, both Suriname and UMIC has overall rising numbers with brief declines in the early 1980’s, with both having a high rate of approximately 85% in 2010-2011 (Graph B. and C.). For Gross Tertiary Education, both Suriname and UMIC again have rising rates, although UMIC had a much higher rate of increase than Suriname. In 1981, Suriname started at 6.24% and by 2002 rose to 12% (Graph B.), while UMIC started just slightly higher at 6.4%, but rose to 19%(Graph C.). While there is no data on the gross tertiary education of Suriname since 2002, UMIC has continued to grow, reaching 33.3% by 2011 (Graph C.). Based on the previously similar patterns, we can extrapolate that Suriname has also continued to rise.
III.V Inequality
III.VI Government Role and Performance
III.VII Geographic and Natural Resource Information
III.VIII International Linkages

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