The Surinamers of French Guiana

The Surinamers of French Guiana, numbering approximately 20,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Afro-Caribbean ethnolinguistic group whose identity is linked to the culture of Suriname. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Sranan Tongo is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Surinamer

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: French Guiana
People Cluster: Afro-Caribbean
Primary Language(s): Sranan Tongo (srn)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 20,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG016342
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Surinamers of French Guiana

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sranan Tongo
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Sranan Tongo Speakers

Media Resources in Sranan Tongo:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Sranan Tongo:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Wortu fu Gado✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Sranan Tongo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Surinamers are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Surinamers:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Surinamers of French Guiana

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"
readJohn 4:13-14

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will drink of the living water that only Christ can provide and never thirst again.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
readPsalm 25:5

Pray that the gospel will advance and that God will lead people in His truth, bringing many to salvation.

The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
readNumbers 6:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be blessed with peace in their lives, knowing that God is with them.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Surinamese Creole Across Countries (ROP3 - 109625) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Surinamese CreolesSurinamese CreolesNetherlands258,000No Longer UnreachedDutchRoman Catholicism
Surinamese CreolesSurinamese CreolesSuriname163,000No Longer UnreachedDutchProtestantism
SurinamersSurinamersUnited States22,000No Longer UnreachedSranan TongoProtestantism
SurinamersSurinamersFrench Guiana20,500No Longer UnreachedSranan TongoEthnoreligion
Surinamese CreolesSurinamese CreolesCuracao2,000No Longer UnreachedSranan TongoFolk Catholicism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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