Actually, before Suriname even became a Dutch colony, the Dutch occupied a very substantial portion of coastal northern Brazil from 1630 to 1654. This territory extended from what's now Sao Luis de Maranhao to just short of Salvador; the Dutch tried and failed multiple times to take over the latter. Ultimately, the Portuguese expelled the Dutch from that whole area. That episode is transient in Dutch history but important in Brazilian history.
Similarly transient in British history but important in Argentine/Uruguayan history are the British invasions of the River Plate (Buenos Aires in particular) in 1806 and 1807. Had the British rather than the Buenos Aires militias (without official Spanish help, it should be pointed out) been the victors, then Guyana wouldn't be a South American outlier for speaking English. In such a scenario, Argentina (including Uruguay as just another province) would be speaking English alongside Spanish.
And when talking about Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana as linguistic outliers in South America, it's important to think of those countries as southeasterly mainland extensions of the non-Spanish Caribbean rather than being in the mainstream of South America like Brazil and the Spanish-speaking republics there.
Religion is another piece quite interesting of Surinam (and Guyana). Those two countries have the majority of the Hindu and Muslim population in South America. Combined, Hindu and Muslim are about 40% of the population of Suriname!
Why chip away at tiny south American countries on the east coast, when the only Portuguese speaking Brazilians in the whole of Spanishing speaking countries on the south American continent. Belated Easter.
Actually, before Suriname even became a Dutch colony, the Dutch occupied a very substantial portion of coastal northern Brazil from 1630 to 1654. This territory extended from what's now Sao Luis de Maranhao to just short of Salvador; the Dutch tried and failed multiple times to take over the latter. Ultimately, the Portuguese expelled the Dutch from that whole area. That episode is transient in Dutch history but important in Brazilian history.
Similarly transient in British history but important in Argentine/Uruguayan history are the British invasions of the River Plate (Buenos Aires in particular) in 1806 and 1807. Had the British rather than the Buenos Aires militias (without official Spanish help, it should be pointed out) been the victors, then Guyana wouldn't be a South American outlier for speaking English. In such a scenario, Argentina (including Uruguay as just another province) would be speaking English alongside Spanish.
And when talking about Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana as linguistic outliers in South America, it's important to think of those countries as southeasterly mainland extensions of the non-Spanish Caribbean rather than being in the mainstream of South America like Brazil and the Spanish-speaking republics there.
Religion is another piece quite interesting of Surinam (and Guyana). Those two countries have the majority of the Hindu and Muslim population in South America. Combined, Hindu and Muslim are about 40% of the population of Suriname!
Why chip away at tiny south American countries on the east coast, when the only Portuguese speaking Brazilians in the whole of Spanishing speaking countries on the south American continent. Belated Easter.