Five cultures

Of independent Suriname: Amerindian, Chinese, Hindustani, Javanese and descendants of African slaves.Europeans who came to the Caribbean developed sugar plantations.  The French first colonized Suriname, then the British and finally the Dutch. The colonials brought African slaves to work the sugar plantations.  Slavery ended on July 1, 1863, but freed slaves were obligated to earn the price of their freedom on by working an additional 10 years.  Five years before the end of slavery, boats of Chinese were brought in to work the plantations.  The owners treated the Chinese as poorly as slaves, except they could not be beaten.  In 1873, the Dutch brought in Indians (called Hindustani, though they were both Hindu and Muslim) to replace the slaves.  Later, in 1890, the Dutch brought in Indonesians (Javanese).  

Suriname became independent in 1975.  Few Europeans remain. 

Suriname has Descendants of freed slaves and descendants of escaped slaves, Maroons, who live deep in the jungle, in villages hidden from river view.