Suriname is home to a many diverse religious and ethnic groups. According to recent census data, 40.7 percent of the population of Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

 is Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

, including Roman Catholics and Protestant

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

 groups—among them Moravian, Lutheran, Dutch Reformed, Evangelical

Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

, Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

, and Methodist. 27.4 percent of the population is Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

, 13.5 percent is Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

, 3.3 percent follow indigenous religions, 15 percent claim to not know their religion, 4.4 percent claim no faith, and 2.5 percent declare unspecified faiths. Indigenous religions are practiced by the Amerindian and Afro-descendant Maroon populations. Amerindians, found principally in the interior and to a lesser extent in coastal areas, practice shamanism

Shamanism

Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...

, a worship of all living things, through a medicine man

Medicine man

"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...

, or piaiman. Maroons

Maroon (people)

Maroons were runaway slaves in the West Indies, Central America, South America, and North America, who formed independent settlements together...

, who inhabit the interior, worship nature through a practice that has no special name, and they also worship their ancestors through a rite called wintie. Citizens of Amerindian and Maroon origin who classify themselves as Christian often simultaneously follow indigenous religious customs, with the acknowledgment of their Christian church leaders.

The Jewish

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 community numbers 1,550, and there are small numbers of Bahá'ís

Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....

 and Buddhists

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

. Other groups include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and the World Islamic Call Society. Currently, Jewish community is currently struggling due to dwindling funds and membership.

Missionaries

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 are present. "No religion in Suriname has any problem with any other religion," quips Guido Robles, a prominent Jewish businessman in Paramaribo. "All the problems are caused by the politicians."

Many political parties

Political Parties

Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...

, including six of the eight governing coalition parties, have strong ethnic ties, and members tend to adhere to or practice one faith. For example, within the governing coalition, the majority of members of the mostly ethnic-Creole National Party of Suriname (NPS) is Moravian, members of the mostly ethnic-Indian United Reformed Party are Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

, and those of the mostly ethnic-Javanese Pertjaja Luhur Party tend to be Muslim. However, parties have no requirement that political party leaders or members adhere to a particular religion. For example, the President, who is also the leader of the NPS, is a practicing Catholic.

There is no direct correlation between religious affiliation and socioeconomic status

Socioeconomic status

Socioeconomic status is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family’s economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation...

; however, those who practice indigenous religions in the small villages of the interior generally have a lower socioeconomic status. With the exception of those following indigenous practices, religious communities are not heavily concentrated in any particular region.

The Constitution

Constitution of Suriname

The current Constitution of Suriname was adopted on 30 September 1987, following a referendum. It marked the return to democracy after the Bouterse military dictatorship of the 1980s. The first constitution of independent Suriname was adopted in 1975, and was modeled after the Constitution of the...

 provides for freedom of religion

Freedom of religion

Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...

, and the Government generally respects this right in practice. The US government found no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice in 2007.

Demography

The religious demography of Suriname as per the 2004 Census is as follows:

Religion	Suriname	Paramaribo	Wanica	Nickerie	Coronie	Saramacca	Commewijne	Marowijne	Para	Brokopondo	Sipaliwini
Christian	40.7%	47.9%	29.7%	20.6%	75.0%	23.5%	22.0%	58.7%	56.5%	52.4%	35.2%
Hindu	19.9%	13.8%	39.9%	43.2%	2.2%	44.6%	24.5%	0.9%	4.9%	0.4%	0.3%
Islam	13.5%	9.4%	21.7%	22.5%	11.0%	18.8%	40.4%	6.8%	11.3%	0.2%	0.1%
Tribal + Other	5.8%	3.8%	3.4%	0.7%	1.6%	3.0%	4.2%	11.5%	6.8%	16.8%	26.8%
None	4.4%	3.9%	2.7%	0.6%	1.8%	1.4%	1.5%	4.7%	8.1%	11.8%	14.8%
Not Known	15.7%	21.1%	2.6%	12.4%	8.4%	8.6%	7.3%	17.4%	12.5%	18.5%	22.9%

Hinduism

Hindus are mostly concentrated in Northern coastal regions of Suriname. Most of the Hindus are of Indian origin. According to the 2004 Census, 23.9% of all Surinamese practice Hinduism (However, the census failed to cover 15.7% of the population, so out of all the people whose religion is known, 27.4% were Hindu). Hindus are mostly concentrated in Nickerie

Nickerie District

Nickerie is a district of Suriname, on the north-west coast. Nickerie's capital city is Nieuw-Nickerie, the second largest city in the country. Other towns include Washoda and Wageningen...

, Wanica

Wanica District

Wanica is a district of Suriname, in the northeast. Wanica's capital city is Lelydorp.Wanica has a population of near 76,320 and an area of 444 km²...

 and Saramacca

Saramacca District

Saramacca is a district of Suriname, in the north. Saramacca's capital city is Groningen, with other towns and cities including Batavia and Boskamp.Saramacca has a population of 13,600 and an area of 3,636 km²....

 where they constitute the largest religious group.

Islam

According to the most recent census, the Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 population of Suriname

Suriname

Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...

 represents about 13.5 percent of the country's total population, giving the country the highest percentages of Muslims on the American continent

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

.

Muslims first came to Suriname as slaves from Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. The next group of Muslims to come to the country consisted of indentured laborers from South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

 and Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, from whom today most Muslims in Suriname are descended.