Paramaribo

Why it's the capital

English settlers sent from Barbados first built a town on the site. In 1667 a Dutch fleet under Abraham Crijnssen captured it and renamed its fort Fort Zeelandia, and the Treaty of Breda that year confirmed Paramaribo as the leading town of the Dutch colony of Suriname.

Fun facts

1. The city is named after the Paramaribo people who lived at the mouth of the Suriname River; the name comes from Tupi–Guarani words meaning 'large river' and 'inhabitants'.
2. On Keizerstraat, the Neveh Shalom Synagogue, completed in 1842, stands right next to a mosque.
3. The historic inner city has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2002, and its old buildings and street plan have largely stayed intact.