Sunrise over the Maroni River

Maroni River, view from French Guiana to Suriname

The Maroni or Marowijne (French: Maroni, Dutch: Marowijne, Sranan Tongo: Marwina-Libya) is a river in South America. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Sranan (also Sranan Tongo "Surinamean tongue" Surinaams, Surinamese, Suriname Creole) is a Creole language spoken "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a It originates in the Tumuk Humak Mountains and forms the (disputed) border between French Guiana and Suriname. French Guiana (Guyane française officially fr ''Guyane'' is an Overseas department (French département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by In its upper reaches, it is also known as the Lawa River, and close to its source it is known as the Marouini River.

There are two nature preserves located in the estuary region on the Surinamese side of the river, near the village of Galibi. Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by The Galibi were a Cariban-speaking people who lived in the Lesser Antilles and northern South America ( French Guiana) at the time of European They provide protection for the birds and the Leatherback Sea Turtles that hatch there. The leatherback turtle ( Dermochelys coriacea) is the largest of all living turtles

Border problems

In 1860, the question was posed from the French side, which of the two tributary rivers was the headwater, and thus the border. Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting A joint French-Dutch commission was appointed to review the issue. The Dutch side of the commission consisted of J. H. Baron van Heerdt tot Eversberg, J. F. A. Cateau van Rosevelt and August Kappler. Luits Vidal, Ronmy, Boudet and Dr. Rech composed the French side. In 1861 measurements were taken, which produced the following result: the Lawa had a flow rate of 35,960 m³/minute at a width of 436 m; the Tapanahony had a flow rate of 20,291 m³/minute at a width of 285  m. Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Thus, the Lawa River was the headwater of the Maroni River.

There were no problems with this decision until 1885. Year 1885 ( MDCCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common However, the discovery of gold in the area between the Lawa and the Tapanahony created a new border conflict. On November 29, 1888, France and The Netherlands reached an agreement that the conflict should be subject to arbitration. Events 1777 - San Jose California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe Year 1888 ( MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Czar Alexander III of Russia, acting as the arbitrator, decided that the Lawa was the headwater of the Maroni, and thus should be considered the border. Alexander III Alexandrovich ( 10 March 1845 – 1 November 1894) (Александр III Александрович reigned as Emperor

However, this decision created another issue as to which river is the source of the Lawa. The Netherlands considered the Marowini (the eastern tributary river) to be the source of the Lawa; the French considered the Litani, located further to the west, to be the source of the Lawa. The Litani or Itany is a river which forms part of the boundary between Suriname and French Guiana. This issue has still not been resolved.

The ’’Litani’’ originates in the Tumuk Humak Mountains at approximately 2½° N 55° W; along its path it is fed by ‘’Koele Koelebreek’’, the ‘’Lokereek’’, the ‘’Mapaonikreek’’ and the ‘’Oelemari’’.

The ‘’Marowini’’ also has its source in the Tumuk Humak Mountains, at approximately 2° N, 54° W; it also absorbs the ‘’Koelebreek’’, among others.

Numbers

The Maroni basin is 68,700 km²; above the island ‘’Langatabbetje’’ (110 km away from the mouth of the river) this area is 63,700 km². Between 1952 and 1973, the average flow rate near ‘’Langatabbetje’’ was about 1,700 m³/second. Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. The minimum was 95 m³/second, the maximum 6,550 m³/second. The estuary is approximately 90 km long; the average tidal range in the estuary is 2 m; in the dry season, the salt reaches about 40 km upstream to the town of Albina.

The estimated potential hydro power for Suriname is between 1150 and 1250 megawatts.

Exploration

The Maroni is the most extensively studied of all the rivers in Suriname. In the 16^th century, there were already ships exploring the estuary, by Lawrence Keymis, Thomas Masham, Antonio de Berrio and Adriaen Cabeliau^[1] and in the 17^th century, by Harcourt, Fisher and De Vries. In the 18^th century more extensive excursions took place, by Mentell, Patris, Le Blond and Heneman and in the 19^th century by Zegelaar, Crevaux, Coudreau, Ten Kate, Joost and more.

Of importance in the 20^th century were the Gonini and Tapanahony expeditions, and the Tumuk Humak and Southern Border Expeditions. From these arose the research of the ‘’Geologisch Mijnbouwkundige Dienst’’ (GMD) and the ‘’Centraal Bureau voor Lucktkartering’’ (CBL).

References

• C. F. A. Bruijning und J. Voorhoeve (Ed. ): Encyclopedie van Suriname. Amsterdam & Brussels 1977, B. V. Uitgeversmaatschappij Argus Elsevier, p. Elsevier, the world's largest Publisher of Medical and Scientific literature, forms part of the Reed Elsevier group 256, 396-397; ISBN 90-10-01842-3.

This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of 1 November 2006.

Coordinates: 2°N 54°W / 2, -54