Situated on the South American coast, between Guyana and French Guyana, the country of Suriname is the smallest sovereign state on the continent — at 63,000 square miles, it is slightly larger than the state of Georgia. A Dutch colony since the mid 17th century, it languished for centuries neglected in favor of more profitable eastern countries, but turned out to have rich bauxite mineral deposits, providing 75% of the allied imports during WW II. By the 1950s Suriname was allowed measures of independence, and two decades later complete autonomy.

On this day, November 25, in 1975, Suriname was granted complete independence by the Netherlands.

The country’s early political parties were split among racial lines, but the country functioned as a parliamentary democracy until 1980, when a military junta took over. Civilian pressure and an organized armed rebellion in the interior of the country forced the military to hold free elections by 1987, but the new civilian government last just three years before being forced out once more. Today, civilian leadership is in power once more, with court cases pending against the murderous regimes of the past decades.