| Archive for langcafe2.myfreeforum.org Come in and have your daily cup of languages! |
| Fredrik |
Is Suriname the most outlandish country on earth?The largest lake is called Prof. Dr. Ir. W.J. van Blommestein-Meer and according to Wikipedia the country has only one cinema and the largest ethnic group of this former Dutch colony is Hindoo Indians!The only countries that might be stranger are the neighbours, Guyana, which is a co-operative republic (sounds like a shop), and French Guiana, which is something as backwards as a French colony and includes the infamous Île du Diable. So is perhaps Guyana the strangest region on earth? Nobody goes there, no news, nothing seems to be known about this damp corner of the earth. |
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| fab |
and Surinam is also very poor, a lot of people try to cross the border with French Guyana, and so enter the European economic space. The border is quite easy to cross, it is just a river in the middle of the inaccesible rainforest. | ||||
| Benjamin [inactive] |
Re: Is Suriname the most outlandish country on earth?
Funny you should mention Guyana, actually, because I'd had a sort of interest in the place since we studied some of the poems of Grace Nichols and John Agard, who were originally from there (although they now live in England). I always remember the teacher saying, in her rather RP accent, 'John Agard is married to Grace Nichols — obviously in Guyana, there aren't so many people, so you probably don't have that much choice if you want to marry someone with similar interests as yourself'. They're both rather eccentric people, from, as you say, a rather strange place. And they both have great accents. Guyana has quite a similar composition as Suriname, actually: Ethnicity: 45.3% Indians 30.2% Africans 16.7% Mixed _9.2% Amerindians _1% Europeans / Chinese / others Religion: 50% Christian 35% Hindu 10% Muslim _5% Bahá'í The main language is English. Their former president, Janet Jagan, was a white American immigrant. Apparently huge numbers of Guyanese people emigrate to the United States every year — so much so that the population is falling rapidly, and there are even campaigns for Guyana to get statehood for itself: http://www.guyanausa.org/ |
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| Elaine |
Hmm. I've never thought of it as being outlandish. But I do find it odd how you Europeans still have territories or DOMs, in our hemisphere!  What was the whole point of the Monroe Doctrine, after all? 
The most outlandish country (if you can call it that) to me is the Pitcairn Islands-- tales of mutiny, kidnapping, murders, rape, etc., all on a remote island with only around 50 inhabitants! |
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
Oh yes, LOL. Actually, it's still a British Overseas Territory, and they're also supposed to be devout Seventh-Day Adventists... |
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| Sander |
Re: Is Suriname the most outlandish country on earth?
In fact of half of the Surinamese live the Netherlands It's a bit the black sheep of South America ... very late independence (1975) which, they did not expect propably thinking we'd invade them like we did with Indonesia ... then suddenly all the surinamese who wanted independance get uncertain and move to the Netherlands ... (they had double nationalities untill 1980) a military regime is installed involved in drugs and murders, the Dutch refuse to give aid as long as they are in power ... eventually they leave and now half of them is engaged in national politics.
Then theres the different groups living there ... Blacks, the ones that escaped moved into the rainforest in the south and are called "bosnegers" (forest negroes) in Dutch and live in the same area as the native american population. The ones who didn't get away stayed in the cities (well ... they only have 2 of them) after the abolishment of slavery the Dutch shipped loads of Indians and Chinese to Surinam because they were cheaper than the blacks and this is what you get
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| David |
Wow, and I thought the U.S. was strange
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| Fredrik |
I am so glad you guys could shed some light on this obscure part of the New World.
I almost want to go there now... |
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| Loic |
For those familiar with football, just think of two of the more prominent Dutch footballers in the 80s: Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard. They are of Surinamese stock. | ||||
| Uriel |
Yes. I believe that is indeed what is written on their plaque at the UN -- "Surinam -- Most Outlandish Country On Earth". I have to admit that I have never heard ANY news out of Surinam. Ever. Or Guyana -- well, not since Jonestown, anyway. (Isn't that where that happened?) Or that other little country at the top of South America that just doesn't belong there.
I know! And whatever happened to "Fifty-four forty or Fight!"?
Banana peels, my friends; we're slipping.... 
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
Yes, that's right. We had to watch a video about that at school last year. |
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| Fredrik |
Yes, of course that most outlandish massacre had to take place in Guyana - what a region!
What kind of accents do these Guyanaians have, Benjamin? Looks like Venezuela is claiming 70 % of Guyana´s territory, the western provinces, known in Venezuela as Zona en Reclamación. And with Suriname claiming a large chunk of southeastern Guyana, the Tigri area, that leaves almost no Guyana left if they get their ways!
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
They sound a bit like Jamaicans, but it's perhaps a bit more 'musical' and generally more extreme. |
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| Fredrik |
Sounds truly outlandish! | ||||
| Loic |
When I first heard of this country, it came as a pleasant surprise that Dutch is still used in an official capacity in the country.
An officially Dutch-speaking country in an otherwise already very Hispanised continent is truly outlandish indeed. |
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