The Surinen Indians (from whom the country's name derives) were the area's earliest known inhabitants. By the 16th century, however, the Surinen had been driven out by other South American Indians, namely the Arawak and Carib tribes. On October 12th 1492 Christopher Columbus 'discovered' the New World. In 1499 Amerigo Vespucci, after whom the continent was named discovered the Northern coast of South America and Spain explored Suriname in 1593. In the seventeenth century, there were several attempts by the Dutch and English to colonize Suriname, with the Dutch eventually gaining stable control. The Netherlands, and therefore Suriname, had a system of slave labour, with slaves mostly of African descent. These Maroons (also known as "Djukas" or "Bakabusi Nengre") often returned to attack the plantations. Slave labour was only abolished in 1863, placing the Netherlands among the last European countries to do so. (Spanish-controlled Cuba and Puerto Rico had slaves until 1880 and 1873, respectively.) However, slaves were not released until 1873. After that, cotract labourers were imported from the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) and India.

In 1954, Suriname gained self-government, with the Netherlands retaining control of defense and foreign affairs. In 1973, the local government, led by the NPK (a largely Creole party) started negotiations with the Dutch government about independence, which was granted on 25 November 1975. The first President of the country was Johan Ferrier, with Henck Arron (leader of the Suriname National Party) as Prime Minister. Roughly a third of the population emigrated to the Netherlands, fearing that the new country would not be able to survive. A series of military coups in 1980 led to the breakdown in Dutch-Suriname relations. 8th December 1982, will always remain a black page in Suriname history, 15 peoples were killed under the leadership of military government. In 1987 the first elections in years were held and a new constitution was approved by the Surinamese. After the so-called 'telephone-coup' which in 1990 interrupted the democratization process, elections were held again in 1991. Since 1990, the four-party New Front coalition, led by Ronald Venetiaan has held government. In recent years, developing the economy has been one of the most difficult issues for Suriname.

In the most recent election in 2010, the coalition was formed by the parties participating in the Mega Combinatie, the A-Combinatie, and Pertjajah Luhur. The next election will be in 2015.