Paramaribo

Paramaribo is the capital city of Suriname. It is in South America, near the sea.

A wide river flows past the old town.

Paramaribo is the capital of Suriname, a country on the northeastern coast of South America. Universalis calls it the country's biggest city and main port. It lies on the Suriname River, about 15 kilometers from the Atlantic coast.

At the 2012 census, 240,924 people lived in the Paramaribo district, out of 541,638 in the whole country. Its historic inner city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Suriname's Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek (via City Population): the Paramaribo district (182 km²) had 169,798 people in 1980, 242,946 at the 2004 census and 240,924 at the census of 13 August 2012 (final), far ahead of the next town, Koewarasan (27,713); Suriname had 541,638.

Universalis: Paramaribo is the capital, largest city and first port of Suriname, on the Suriname River about 15 km from the Atlantic. The town is built on a ridge rising 5 m above the river at low tide.

Look at the row of white houses with red roofs! Two pointed towers rise behind them.

The brown river water is right in front.

This photo shows the Waterkant, Paramaribo's riverside street, seen from the Suriname River on 21 October 2021. A row of white buildings with red, gray and black roofs stands among green trees and palms. Two pointed spires and a white tower with a clock rise behind them, under a cloudy sky.

UNESCO says the old town is made mainly of wooden buildings in a plain, symmetrical style. Among its landmarks are Fort Zeelandia, built in 1667, and a Gothic Revival cathedral built of wood in 1885.

Commons: 'The waterkant of Paramaribo from the Suriname River', 21 October 2021 (according to Exif data), own work by Rafaeljantz, CC BY-SA 4.0, uploaded for Wiki Loves Monuments 2022; the recorded camera location falls on the Waterkant (Wikidata: a street in Paramaribo).

UNESCO (site 940): key elements of the townscape are Fort Zeelandia (1667) and the large public park behind it, the Garden of Palms; wide, tree-lined streets; the Presidential Palace (1730), stone with a wooden upper floor; the Ministry of Finance (1841), brick with a classical portico and a clock tower; the Reformed Church (1837); and the wooden Gothic Revival Roman Catholic cathedral (1885).

Paramaribo has a big park full of palm trees. Students can learn at a university that opened in 1968.

UNESCO says the wooden buildings of Paramaribo mix Dutch and other European styles, later North American ideas and elements of Creole culture, and that this mix reflects the many cultures of Suriname. Behind Fort Zeelandia is a large public park called the Garden of Palms.

Paramaribo is also a place of learning, Universalis says, with a university founded in 1968, a polytechnic institute founded in 1994 and an agricultural research center founded in 1965.

UNESCO: the plain, symmetrical architecture, mainly in wood, illustrates the gradual fusion of Dutch and other European and later North American influences with elements of Creole culture, reflecting Suriname's multicultural society; the timber buildings are vulnerable to fire, and waterfront development could affect the site if not well designed. In 2026 UNESCO placed the Historic Inner City on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Universalis: Paramaribo has kept much of its Dutch character through its colonial buildings and its canals; it hosts a university (1968), the Polytechnic Institute of Suriname (1994) and the Centre for Agricultural Research in Suriname (1965); since the Second World War it has grown with tourism and industry.