30 Bizarre Facts About Suriname That Are Actually True

Just over 90% of Suriname is rainforest, it's the only Dutch-speaking country in South America, and it borders France. Almost nobody talks about it. Here are 30 strange facts about Suriname that are actually true.Suriname is the smallest country in South America and one of the least visited places in the Western Hemisphere — and it might be the strangest country on the continent. It's the only country in South America where Dutch is the official language, yet more than 20 languages are spoken on its streets. It drives on the left, borders an overseas region of France, keeps a cathedral that's the largest wooden structure in the Western Hemisphere, and has a mosque standing directly next door to a synagogue.In this video: why Suriname's forest is the most untouched on Earth, how Maroon communities built free societies in the interior centuries before abolition, the drowned rainforest behind the Afobaka Dam, the 1964 animal rescue almost nobody remembers, leatherback turtles at Galibi, wild jaguars, Keti Koti, the Suriname dollar, and how gold mining became the country's biggest economic asset and its biggest environmental problem at the same time.Let me know in the comments — if you're Surinamese or you've been there, what did I miss?CHAPTERS 0:00 Why nobody talks about Suriname 0:30 The country that shouldn't fit anywhere 1:15 Facts 30–21 — the smallest country in South America 6:00 Facts 20–16 — jaguars, turtles and the Maroons 10:00 Facts 15–11 — a mosque next to a synagogue 13:00 Facts 10–6 — bauxite, gold and one bridge 15:30 Facts 5–1 — the jungle nobody visits 18:30 The real reason Suriname is strangeSOURCE NOTE: Facts are drawn from public reference sources on Suriname's geography, history and demographics, including Wikipedia, Britannica, UNESCO and conservation reporting. #Suriname #Caribbean #GeographyFacts #SouthAmerica #StrangeFacts #Paramaribo #TravelFacts #worldgeography