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Christopher Columbus sights the coast of Suriname.
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Christopher Columbus sights the coast of Suriname
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Spanish explorers visit the area and name it Suriname, after the country's earliest inhabitants, the Surinen.
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Settlements attempted by Spanish, Dutch, British and French during the first half of the 17th century. They all failed, in part because of resistance by the native inhabitants.
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First permanent European settlement in Suriname, established by the British at Paramaribo by Lord Francis Willoughby.
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British cede their part of Suriname to the Netherlands in exchange for New Amsterdam (later called New York).
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Coffee and sugar can plantations established and worked by African slaves.
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British ruled was reimposed.
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Slavery abolished; indentured laborers brought in from India, Java and China to work on plantations.
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Aluminum Company of America begins mining bauxite - the principal ore of aluminum - which gradually becomes Suriname's main export.
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Suriname becomes independent with Johan Ferrier as president Henk Arron, of the Suriname National Party (NPS), as prime minister; more than a third of population emigrates to the Netherlands.
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Ban on political parties lifted.
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Peace accord reached with SLA.
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Dutch court convicts Bouterse for drug smuggling after trying him in absentia.
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Desi Bouterse becomes president.
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Parliament passes amnesty law for President Desi Bouterse and 24 other defendants on trial for alleged execution of political opponent during Mr. Bouterse's military rule in 1982.
