People

Population: 427 980 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 33% (male 72 945; female 69 468)

15-64 years: 62% (male 133 840; female 129 452)

65 years and over: 5% (male 10 309; female 11 966) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.77% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 22.48 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 5.79 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -8.99 migrant(s)/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 27.44 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 70.61 years

male: 68.05 years

female: 73.29 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.59 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Surinamer(s)

adjective: Surinamese

Ethnic groups: Hindustani (also known locally as "East Indians"; their ancestors emigrated from northern India in the latter part of the 19th century) 37% Creole (mixed white and black) 31% Javanese 15.3% Maroons (their African ancestors were brought to the country in the 17th and 18th centuries as slaves and escaped to the interior) 10.3% Amerindian 2.6% Chinese 1.7% white 1% other 1.1%

Religions: Hindu 27.4% Muslim 19.6% Roman Catholic 22.8% Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian) indigenous beliefs 5%

Languages: Dutch (official) English (widely spoken) Sranang Tongo (Surinamese sometimes called Taki-Taki is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others) Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi) Javanese

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 93%

male: 95%

female: 91% (1995 est.)