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River

Suriname River

480 km from source to mouth · Suriname.

SurinameSurinameFlows into Atlantic Ocean1st longest in Suriname

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

480km

Average flow

440m³/s

Basin

16,814km²

Drop

215m

from 214 m to -1 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

480 km of river and 19 stops on the way: 10 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

214 m-1 m
Sourceat 214 m0 km
Feroelasie Val201 km
Pokigron500 people223 km
Brokopondo Reservoir1,067 km²315 km
Balling Soela321 km
JodensavanneUNESCO World Heritage393 km
Atlantic Oceanat -1 m480 km
0100200300400480 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 214 m
  2. 201 kmFeroelasie Val
  3. 223 kmPokigron500 people
  4. 315 kmBrokopondo Reservoir1,067 km²
  5. 321 kmBalling Soela
  6. 326 kmBrokopondo4,482 people
  7. 393 kmJodensavanneUNESCO World Heritage
  8. 426 kmParanam1,800 people
  9. 445 kmDomburg5,500 people
  10. 454 kmParakreektributary
  11. 455 kmPeperpot
  12. 461 kmMeerzorg12,405 people
  13. 461 kmJules Wijdenbosch Bridge
  14. 462 kmBeekhuizen17,185 people
  15. 463 kmParamaribo223,757 people
  16. 466 kmRainville22,747 people
  17. 469 kmBlauwgrond31,483 people
  18. 469 kmGeyersvlijt
  19. 470 kmNieuw Amsterdam5,650 people
  20. 470 kmCommewijne Rivertributary
  21. 480 kmAtlantic Oceanat -1 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Suriname

At the mouth it carries 440 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 5.7 seconds. It drops from 214 m to -1 m, 0.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 16,814 km², about the size of SZ. 248,000 people live in it. Highest water: from June to July; lowest: from October to November. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 139% of a year's flow.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • ParamariboLargest city on its banks · 223,757 people
  • Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 46 km from the cityCar hire at PBM airport (Paramaribo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water11 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From February to March and from September to NovemberThe best months to visit

Suriname River, month by month

Highest water: from June to July

Lowest water: from October to November. Best months to visit: from February to March and from September to November.

560
26°223 mmJan
610
26°166 mmFeb
610
26°187 mmMar
640
26°230 mmApr
900
26°334 mmMay
1,100
26°320 mmJun
1,000
27°238 mmJul
770
27°168 mmAug
450
28°83 mmSep
250
28°69 mmOct
200
27°101 mmNov
350
26°185 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 200 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,100 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire at PBM airport (Paramaribo)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Suriname River: the basin in numbers

16,814 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

DammedReservoirs can hold 139% of a year's flow: much of the river is a chain of lakes.
  • 248,000people live in the basin
  • 15/km²people per km²
  • 118maverage altitude of the basin
  • 2,366mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 26.5°Caverage air temperature
  • 7%protected areas
  • 6.4%covered by lakes
  • 23km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 83% Forest
  • 1% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Suriname River: what you find on the way

  • 1DamsAfobaka Dam
  • 1Weirs
  • 3Locks
  • 3Boat rampsVeerpont Carolina
  • 8Ferry piersJaw Jaw a tela, Leonsberg and 6 more
  • 2River beachesOverbridge, BoaVista

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.9 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Suriname River in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 2waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 1lake on its wayLakeyas

Waterfalls (2)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Feroelasie Valkm 194
  2. Balling Soelakm 309

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (1)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Brokopondo Reservoirkm 303 · 47 m deep1,067km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Suriname River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Suriname River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth18 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Suriname River in pictures

Atjoni en Pokigron Surinamerivier
NullAspect · CC BY-SA 4.0
Suriname River
madmack66 · CC BY 2.0
Broken down bridge over Suriname river between Carolina and Jodensavanne 2
Mark Ahsmann · CC BY-SA 3.0
Broken down bridge over Suriname river between Carolina and Jodensavanne 3
Mark Ahsmann · CC BY-SA 3.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (3)

Also: Commewijne River, Parakreek, Cassipora Kreek

Nearby

Rivers nearby

MaroniFrench GuianaFrench Guiana612 km1,700 m³/s124 km awayCoppename RiverSurinameSuriname400 km550 m³/s92 km awaySaramacca RiverSurinameSuriname255 km280 m³/s90 km awayCourantyne RiverGuyanaGuyana724 km580 m³/s225 km awayLawa RiverFrench GuianaFrench Guiana362 km970 m³/s178 km awayBerbice RiverGuyanaGuyana595 km370 m³/s273 km awayEssequibo RiverGuyanaGuyana1,014 km2,100 m³/s392 km awayDemerara RiverGuyanaGuyana350 km290 m³/s356 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q635545) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesCascadyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit