Suriname is a former Dutch colony that gained independence in 1975. It is one of the greenest countries on the planet, one of the very few with a negative carbon footprint,  with a large part of the country covered by Amazon rain forest while the coastal zone consists of abandoned plantations, rice fields and the capital city Paramaribo.

Suriname has a fascinating history which resulted in its current unique multicultural population and society with indigenous people living together with people mainly from European, African, Indian, Indonesian and Chinese descent. 

The climate is humid and tropical with all year round temperatures varying around 30 degrees celcius during the day and alternate rainy and dry seasons.

One of the most distinghuishing features of the country is its overwhelming nature, in particular the rainforest and a number of nature hotspots in the coastal zone (in particular Galibi and Bigi Pan).