Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/1171

 DUTCH WE8T INDIES

1119

The legal coins of 10, 5, 2$, 1 and $ guilders, as well as the weights and measures, of Dutch India, are those of the Netherlands. But the country has coins of its own, viz., 25, 10, 5, :j£, 1, and i cent, pieces.

Consular Representatives,

British Consul- General at Bala via. — W. N. Dunn (on leave); J.Crosby (Acting).

Commercial Agent —11. A. N. Bluett.

There are also consular officers at Samarang, Sourabaya, Makasser, Medan, Padang, and Koepang.

DUTCH WE8T INDIES.

The Dutch possessions in the West Indies are (a) Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, and (b) the colony Curacao.

Surinam or Dutch Guiana.

Dutch Guiana or Surinam is situated on the north coast of S. America between 2 and 6° N. latitude.and 53° 50' and 58° 20' E. longitude, and bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the river Marowijne, which separates it from French Guiana, on the west by the river Corantyn, which separates it from British Guiana, and on the south ><v inaccessible forests and savannas to the Tumuc-Humac Mountains.

At the peace of Breda, in 1667, between England and the United Nether- lands, Surinam was assured to the Netherlands in exchange for the colony of New Netherlands in North America, and this was confirmed by the treaty of Westminster of February, 1674. Since then Surinam has been twice iu the power of England, 1799 till 1802, when it was restored at the peace of Amiens, and in 1804 to 1816, when it was returned according to the Convention of London of August 13, 1814, confirmed at the peace of Paris of November 20, 1815, with the other Dutch colonies, except Berbice, Demerara, Essequibo, and the Cape of Good Hope.

The administration and executive authority is in the hands of a governor assisted by a council consisting of the governor as president, a vice-president and three members, all nominated by the Queen. The Colonial States form the representative body of the colony. The members (18) are chosen for 6 years by electors in proportion of one in 200 electors.

Governor. — Baron van Reenutra. Appointed December, 1920.

Dutch Guiana is divided into thirteen districts.

Area, 46,060 English square miles; population (January 1, 1920) 109,810, exclusive of the negroes and Indians living in the forests. Capital, Para- maribo, 36,038 inhabitants.

Births and deaths for 3 years : —

Births

Deaths

1917

1918

1919

1917

1918

1919

Males .... Females

1,526 1,435

1,538 1,511

1,302 1.291

997

m

1,449, 1,067 '

1,705 1,183

Total

2,961

3,049

2,598

1,888

2,516

2,888