Guyana vs Suriname

Why people mix them up

Guyana and Suriname sit side by side on the northeastern shoulder of South America, together with French Guiana, in an area often called "the Guianas". Both are small by South American standards, covered mostly by rainforest, with most people living on a narrow coastal strip. Both currencies are called the dollar, and both countries look out on the Atlantic, so many people are unsure which is which or which one lies further east.

How to tell them apart

• Guyana is English-speaking, the only South American country with English as its official language; Suriname is Dutch-speaking, the only one with Dutch.
• Guyana lies to the west, bordering Venezuela; Suriname lies to the east, bordering French Guiana.
• Guyana's flag is green with a yellow arrowhead edged in white and a red triangle edged in black; Suriname's has horizontal green, white and red stripes with a yellow star in the centre.
• The capitals are Georgetown (Guyana) and Paramaribo (Suriname), both on the coast.
• Guyana is the larger of the two, about 215,000 km² against Suriname's roughly 164,000 km².
• Guyana was a British colony; Suriname was a Dutch colony, independent since 1975.

Memory hook

Read them west to east like an English sentence: Guyana (English), then Suriname (Dutch), then French Guiana (French). G comes before S, just as Guyana comes before Suriname on the map.

On the map

Find the stretch of Atlantic coast between Venezuela and Brazil's northern bulge. The first country east of Venezuela is Guyana. Next comes Suriname, then French Guiana, which is part of France. Brazil lies to the south of all three. If the country you are tapping touches Venezuela, it is Guyana.