Why is Dutch the official language of Suriname?
The Netherlands is the source of the official language of Suriname. Dutch speakers from the Netherlands began settling the subsequent Republic in the 17th century. The area previously had been explored by speakers of Spanish, French, and English in the 16th century. But it was English and then Dutch language speakers who settled the country which they linked to their respective homelands by way of plantation economies. In the aftermath of the Treaty of Breda of July 31, 1667, the Dutch lost their foothold in the subsequent state of New York and gained it in Suriname. As a consequence, the official language of Suriname came to be Dutch, and not English.