Districts
The country is divided into ten administrative districts, each headed by a district commissioner appointed by the president. The commissioner is similar to the governor of a United States-type state but is appointed and removed by the president.
Districts of Suriname
The ten districts and their capitals (in parantheses):
- Brokopondo (Brokopondo)
- Commewijne (Nieuw-Amsterdam)
- Coronie (Totness)
- Marowijne (Albina)
- Nickerie (Nieuw-Nickerie)
- Para (Onverwacht)
- Paramaribo (Paramaribo)
- Saramacca (Groningen)
- Sipaliwini (none)
- Wanica (Lelydorp)
Resorts
The ten districts of Suriname are divided into 62 resorts (Dutch: ressorten).
The average resort is about 2600 km² (1004 miles square) and has almost 8,000 inhabitants. Within the capital city of Paramaribo, a resort entails a neigbourhood, in other cases it is more akin to a municipality, consisting of a central place with a few settlements around it. The resorts in the Sipaliwini District are especially large, since the inlands of Suriname are sparsely inhabited.
According to article 161 of the Constitution of Suriname, the highest political body of the resort is the resort council. Elections for the resort council are held every five years and are usually at the same time as the Suriname general elections.