The Surinamers of United States

The Surinamers of United States, numbering approximately 22,000 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 Protestantism and Sranan Tongo is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Surinamer

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Afro-Caribbean
Primary Language(s): Sranan Tongo (srn)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 22,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG047307
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Surinamers of United States

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism 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 United States

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
readRomans 5:7-8

Pray for the many who don't yet understand the hope of the gospel, and pray that God will reveal to them that while they were in darkness, Christ died for them.

For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.
readMalachi 1:11

Pray that they will worship God in spirit and truth, offering Him the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving that He desires.

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
readMatthew 28:18-20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence because Jesus has all authority and is with them as they make disciples and teach others about Him.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

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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