A tiny country is one of the emptiest in the world and almost entirely made up of rainforest.
Suriname is South America’s smallest country by both population and size. It is on the Atlantic Ocean and has Dutch as its official language.
It has a population density of ten people per square mile, making it one of the emptiest in the world. Half of its population lives in its coastal capital city, Paramaribo.
The country has been described by Lonely Planet as “a warm, dense convergence of rivers that thumps with the lively rhythm of ethnic diversity” due to its colonial past.
Suriname’s various indigenous peoples were colonised by the Netherlands in the late 17th Century. It was a lucrative source of sugar, which was grown and processed by African and Asian slaves. The country gained its independence in 1975.
The capital is made up of Dutch-made buildings such as Fort Zeelandia, Independence Square, the Presidential Palace, Fort Nieuw Amsterdam, and Saint Peter and Paul Basilica.
The main method of transportation is along the rivers through the rainforest, with towns and villages dotted along the waterways and boat trips available from the capital.
There are a number of nature reserves to explore as a visitor including Brownsberg, Galibi, Bigi Pan, Peperpot, and Coppename.
There is also lots of wildlife to see in Suriname with river dolphins, turtles, monkeys, macaws, crocodiles and anacondas to be seen throughout the country’s coast and jungle.
Flights from the UK to Suriname leave from Birmingham, Bristol, London, Manchester and Leeds, all of which include at least one stopover.
There are many places to stay in Paramaribo such as hotels, bed and breakfasts, holiday lets and hostels.
Other countries that are similarly sparsely populated are Mongolia, Australia, Iceland, Libya, Canada and Mauritania.
Greenland is the least densely populated country in the world, with 0.36 people per square mile. It is closely followed by the Falkland Islands.
