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1 Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment  
1 comment  




2 Type of government  
23 comments  




3 Official language  
1 comment  




4 Request  
1 comment  




5 Naming of neighboring entities  
6 comments  




6 A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion  
1 comment  




7 Altered Maps and Political Geography in Surinamese related Articles  
5 comments  




8 Protest Against Half/Incomplete Maps of Suriname being used on Wikipedia Articles  
1 comment  




9 RFC: Disputed areas in Suriname maps  
34 comments  


9.1  Discussion  







10 RfC: Should maps show border claims?  
42 comments  




11 Worse than Britannica  
4 comments  




12 Consistent use of color in Ethnicity section  
1 comment  













Talk:Suriname




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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 6 January 2020 and 25 April 2020. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): MaikelTest.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignmentbyPrimeBOT (talk) 10:29, 17 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Type of government[edit]

@Jopie75: Why do you think Suriname is a presidential republic and why do you not want the infobox to show that it's a unitary state? Largoplazo (talk) 11:29, 29 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I can't speak for Jopie75, but I too am a little sceptical of calling Suriname a parliamentary republic. I've read parts of their Constitution (PDF) pertaining to the President and there's no mention of a mechanism of their removal by the Parliament, hence they're not really accountable to it, which is a defining characteristic of parliamentary systems. Sure, the Constitution says they're answerable to the National Assembly, and are elected by it, but I do not see a mechanism for their removal by the National Assembly before the end of their term (e.g. no mention of "no confidence" votes or even "impeachment"). Likewise the CIA Factbook calls Suriname a presidential republic, not a parliamentary one. If you think that the CIA Factbook may call all countries with an executive president presidential systems, including the parliamentary systems of Botswana and South Africa, fear not, as they do not class those countries as presidential systems, only as parliamentary systems. Fuse809 (contribs · email · talk · uploads) 13:30, 29 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Hmm, the World Fact Book says that? Well, at least there's a source. Thanks for the due diligence. I wouldn't have expected the denotation of a republic as parliamentary or presidential to hinge on the ability of the legislature to remove a president as well as install one (and, without having researched it, I would have assumed the legislature had that power by default!) It certainly doesn't hinge on removal alone as, in the United States, the Congress can remove a president, but the United States certainly isn't classified as parliamentary.
I'll leave it for someone else to address the fact that Suriname is on the list of parliamentary republics at Parliamentary republic. Largoplazo (talk) 10:59, 31 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Looking at the constitution myself, I agree it says nothing about removing, but Article 90 says "The President is Head of State of the Republic of Suriname, Head of Government, Chairman of the Council of State and of the Security Council. He is answerable to the National Assembly." I would have thought that "answerable to the National Assembly" was the defining characteristic. Largoplazo (talk) 11:05, 31 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Here's one person's commentary at Quora, for what it's worth! [1] Largoplazo (talk) 11:08, 31 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The US President cannot be dismissed by Congress in ordinary circumstances, so normally they're not held accountable. They're only held accountable in cases of serious criminality ("high crimes and misdemeanors" as the Constitution says), otherwise they're independent of Congress. So, the US system is very much presidential, as ordinarily there is strict separation between the three branches, except 'check and balance' powers, like the ability of the Congress to impeach the President and the power of the President to veto laws passed by Congress, unless they override them. While South Africa allows for the President's removal by a vote of no confidence, for which evidence of criminality is not a pre-requisite, so in that case the President truly is held accountable to the Parliament. Likewise, Botswana's Constitution makes it so that while the President isn't dismissed by a vote of no confidence, a no confidence vote forces a dissolution of the Parliament, unless the President resigns, and it is likely that in the ensuing election one of two things will happen:

As I said in my initial reply, the "He is answerable to the National Assembly" part of their Constitution is meaningless, if the National Assembly does not have the ability to dismiss them when they are acting contrary to their wishes. Fuse809 (contribs · email · talk · uploads) 12:09, 31 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Pretty much every single source I can find describes Suriname as a parliamentary republic.  Flags200 (talk) 21:40, 10 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The way that the CIA world fact book classifies government types is kind of inconsistent. For example it describes Mauritania as a presidential republic which it is not but then goes around and describes France as a semi-presidential republic.  Flags200 (talk) 21:42, 10 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Care to share some of those sources? Where is your proof that the President can be dismissed by the National Assembly? As the Constitution doesn't say that. In fact, there's not even an impeachment mechanism (I know different from a vote of no confidence, but still) mentioned in the Constitution. Thanks for at engaging in a conversation. Fuse809 (contribs · email · talk · uploads) 09:02, 11 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I've come across a source (1) that calls it a president-parliamentary system, a type of semi-presidential system. Although that seems dubious, as one defining characteristic of a semi-presidential system is a directly elected president. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.00084 even says that Suriname is a country where, while elected by the legislature, the President is not held accountable by them. I quote:

However, Category 4 reflects the situation where such a president is not accountable to the legislature after they select her or him and is found in Micronesia, South Africa since 1983 (across two regimes), Suriname after 1991 and Switzerland.

Fuse809 (contribs · email · talk · uploads) 10:25, 11 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The question whether a President should resign after a motion of no confidence is passed in the National Assembly has previously come up during the tenure of Jules Wijdenbosch. Wijdenbosch refused to resign after a motion of no confidence was tabled, saying that the constitution does not provide a procedure for the dismissal of the president. The opposition and even his former ally (and current president) Desi Bouterse disagreed. See this newspaper article. So it's ambiguous. Pinatyaimi (talk) 16:15, 11 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Ambiguity seems to strengthen the case for the president not being accountable to the legislature. Sort of like the situation with the US President, and how while in office they are practically immune from prosecution. Even though there is no absolute consensus on whether they are immune or not, for all practical purposes they are, because of the ambiguity of the law. Fuse809 (contribs · email · talk · uploads) 16:28, 11 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
In a presidential republic the  legislature doesn't even have a choice to issue a vote of no confidence to the president. However in a parliamentary republic at least that option is available although the constitution of Suriname doesn't explicitly state that  and the president doesn't necessarily have to listen to it. However it is still  and option on like in presidential systems  Flags200 (talk) 22:21, 11 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
But the defining characteristic of a parliamentary system isn't that a vote of no confidence can be done, but that it has the effect of dismissing the head of government, as without that are they really accountable to the legislature? Without that accountability, it fails to meet the definition. Fuse809 (contribs · email · talk · uploads) 03:05, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
This definition completely disregards parliamentary systems that are based off of convention rather than constitution. In those cases even if a vote of no confidence where to be issued there is no constitutional obligation for the  prime Minister or other related executive official to step down  Flags200 (talk) 03:29, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
But in those systems they are required, by convention, to step down, even if the Constitution does not specify that they must. Often the head of state (e.g. monarch, governor-general, president) has the power to dismiss the head of government in those cases, but as Suriname has the head of state and head of government positions fused into one, that means the Constitution or some other legal document will likely have to specify that a vote of no confidence triggers their dismissal in order for them to be truly accountable to the legislature and hence truly a parliamentary system. Fuse809 (contribs · email · talk · uploads) 03:49, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
By the way, thanks for adding the disputed tag instead of editing president to parliamentary, as at least we can both live with that for the time being while this issue is being resolved. Fuse809 (contribs · email · talk · uploads) 03:50, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I found an official source backing up my claim. 
It states that the president is answerable to the national assembly 

https://www.surinameembassy.org/government.shtml

Flags200 (talk) 04:25, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Constitution says the President is answerable to the National Assembly too, but without a means to remove them when the National Assembly is dissatisfied by the President's answers it is meaningless. It's like saying that someone is answerable for their actions, and then not having a means to punish them for their actions, should it be warranted. Fuse809 (contribs · email · talk · uploads) 04:39, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Suriname is still a parliamentary republic. If it were a presidential  Republic then it wouldn't have that kind of statement in its constitution.  Suriname is a flawed  parliamentary republic but still a parliamentary republic or at the very least was meant to be one.  Someone should really get around to fixing  that   ambiguity  Flags200 (talk) 09:58, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Would you both consider that the respective definitions of "presidential republic" and "parliamentary republic" are somewhat fuzzy, that those classifications may not cover 100% of all nations that are termed "republics", that the nature of the relationship in Suriname between the president and Parliament is somewhat fuzzy, and that maybe it just isn't urgent to squeeze Suriname into either subcategory and that it would be best left as a "republic"? Largoplazo (talk) 10:49, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Lol, of course not all republics are covered adequately by those labels, that's why there's additional labels like directorial republic (Switzerland) and semi-presidential republic (France, Poland, Portugal, Russia and the Ukraine). In this case, yes, I would agree that neither of those labels, nor any of these additional labels that I've mentioned, would be adequate to describe Suriname. I think the evidence is stronger for it following a presidential system than parliamentary system; the main way it departs from a traditional presidential system is the means by which the president is elected. Most presidential systems have direct popular election of the president, but this is not an absolute requirement, as is illustrated by the fact the US uses an electoral college to elect their president. I don't see what relevance motions of confidence have given that:


1. They're not mentioned in the Constitution at all.

2. They do not seem to have any effect, as the president doesn't need to step aside after a successful motion of no confidence.

I suppose calling it a "republic" would at least be accurate and indisputable (provided the definition of republic isn't taken to imply the state is democratic, then it would be debatable). Although, I must admit, it isn't very descriptive. Given I don't have a better adjective to describe their system in a precise and indisputable way, the "republic" label might just have to do. Fuse809 (contribs · email · talk · uploads) 11:57, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I think that it would be acceptable to just call it a republic Flags200 (talk) 18:30, 12 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]


Official language[edit]

We indicate the official language is 'Dutch' but link to 'Surinamese Dutch'. Should we change the link label to 'Surinamese Dutch' by simple virtue of the fact that that article exists? A counter-argument might be that the national statute specifies "Dutch" per se. I don't know if this is the case, but if it is, ought we not link to the standard Dutch article?Hayttom (talk) 07:38, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Request[edit]

Please this article semi protect. thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexiscid (talkcontribs) 06:34, 14 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Naming of neighboring entities[edit]

The second sentence of the article had read "It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, and Brazil to the south." User:Automeris replaced "French Guiana" with the rationale "Changed 'French Guiana' to 'France' in the list of bordering areas in the introduction, which I think in general should be nations. ...." An IP user reverted that change, stating "Fixed name of country to Suriname’s east. It is French Guyana, not France."

I'd appreciated Automeris' reasoning; the reverting editor did express their rationale in terms of "country", and France is the country in this case, so I restored Automeris' version. But then I had an opposing thought: Look at any map of South America. How is the entity to the immediate east of Suriname labeled? Assuming the map is in English, it will almost certainly be labeled "French Guiana" or "Fr. Guiana" or "French Guiana (France)" or "Fr. Guiana (France)".

So there seems to be a broad sense that even though that territory is France by sovereignty—indeed, an integrated part of it—the natural way to designate it in its geographical context is by its name as a department of France, "French Guiana". For our purposes, might that convention override one where, when speaking of what borders a country, we label neighboring territories by the name of their sovereignty rather than by their name as an individual entity? Largoplazo (talk) 06:48, 27 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

User:CanadianOntarian just changed it back to "French Guiana", despite the edit summaries and this open discussion, without comment. Largoplazo (talk) 16:10, 27 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I think it should be "French Guiana", which is the most common and recognizable name for the region. After all, Atlantic Ocean isn't a country either. User:力 (power~enwiki, π, ν) 16:23, 27 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I happened to be looking at the Suriname page and noticed the strangeness of the reference. Before making the change I looked at the Canada page to see if Alaska was specifically mentioned as a bordering region. It is not. I looked at other countries that border France at only one French region. Luxembourg's page says it borders France, not Grand Est. Ditto for Germany. Andorra's page says it borders France, not Occitanie. (I forgot to look at Monaco, but it is also described as bordering France, not the region of France it borders.) I then looked at France's page, to see how it's borders with Suriname and Netherlands were described:
"France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra and Spain in Europe, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname and Brazil in the Americas"
The United States is listed as having Maritime Borders with Bahamas, Cuba, and Russia. Russia is listed as bordering sixteen sovereign nations, without naming them. This appears to be only land borders--possibly this also should be corrected, since the United States page mentions the Russian border. No mention of a border with the US or with the US state of Alaska occurs.
It just now occurred to me to look at how Lithuania and Poland's border with Russia is handled. Both cases use "Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast)". I suppose "France (French Guiana)" would be preferable to what we have now and fairly consistent with what is done elsewhere. I also notice that although in the introduction where I looked at the time Brazil was listed as bordering all countries of South America except Chile and Ecuador, in the Geography section it says:
"Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior,[174] sharing land borders with Uruguay to the south; Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest; Bolivia and Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and France (French overseas region of French Guiana) to the north. It shares a border with every South American country except Ecuador and Chile."
I don't really care how the page reads. I do care about consistency. I certainly didn't think this was controversial. My only goal was correcting what I thought was a minor inconsistency in style. From other Wikipedia pages France borders Brazil, France borders Suriname, and Brazil borders France. Therefore Suriname borders France. Nations border nations. (And for user 力, countries are also bordered by bodies of water universally in Wikipedia.) When we talk about what Montana borders, we use states and Canadian provinces, which are regions of equal rank. Similarly a list of counties bordering Union County, Arkansas (on the southern edge of the state) includes other Arkansas counties and bordering Louisiana parishes.
Although maybe I should care about how the page reads, too, because the way it reads now evidently gives the impression to some people that (as 76.181.33.3 appears to believe) French Guiana is it's own country. This seems like a disservice to Wikipedia users.
Can we get a consensus for "France (French Guiana)"? That's probably what I would have done if I had looked at the Poland and Lithuania pages at the time, but I didn't think about Russia having a separated region then. Are there any other nations besides the United States, France, Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Russia which have non-contiguous parts, at least two of which have borders with other nations, so we can see how those are handled? (Also excluding strange historical border situations where neighboring countries have enclaves within each other.)
Automeris (talk) 05:13, 28 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
It isn't entirely clear that you are addressing the second paragraph of my opening comment that represents the core of the point I was making. If you look at a map of France, it's labeled "France", not "Grand-Est". So when listing the countries that border Luxembourg, you'll see that the blob to its west is labelled "France".
Canada borders the coterminous United States. So Alaska is already included in that and doesn't need to be mentioned separately; it wouldn't make sense to write that Canada borders "the United States and Alaska". For that reason, it's a bad analogy.
You mention consistency; my suggestion supported consistency—consistency with maps.
I would support changing Brazil to refer to French Guiana instead of France.
Cabinda is an exclave of Angola on the African mainland, bordering Republic of Congo, which describes its location thus: "The country is bordered to the west by Gabon, to its northwest by Cameroon and its northeast by the Central African Republic, to the southeast by the DR Congo, to its south by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda and to its southwest by the Atlantic Ocean."
A parallel to that example would be to say Suriname borders "the French department of French Guiana".
Spain somehow omitted Gibraltar entirely from its bordering entities list in its lead, so I just added it. In the Geography section, it reads "On the west, Spain is bordered by Portugal; on the south, it is bordered by Gibraltar (aBritish overseas territory) and Morocco, through its exclaves in North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla, and the peninsula of Vélez de la Gomera)." That's similar to the treatment of Cabinda in the Congo article.
I wouldn't object to "France (French Guiana)" though "the French department of French Guiana" seems more natural. Largoplazo (talk) 12:21, 28 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Good call on Cabinda. I wasn't even aware of the non-insular Spanish exclaves. I don't think Gibraltar is really the same case as French Guiana, since the former has a special designation within the UK that makes sense to use (i.e. it is not a nation, nor is it a basal part of the nation to which it belongs), and the latter is just a regular part of France. If we use "the French department of French Guiana" we should also use "the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast" or some such language for Poland and Lithuania. If we do this, I would prefer the language used in the Congo page, "the [Nationality] exclave of [Name]". I still prefer the form "[Nation] ([Exclave Name])" because it names the nation, and presents the parenthetical information parenthetically, so is concise and still avoids confusion.
I have just discovered there is a page called Borders of Suriname. It says "The borders of Suriname consist of land borders with three countries: Guyana, Brazil, and France (via French Guiana)." The pages for Maylasia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei seem to adhere to the idea of naming only the bordering nation, or if a particular subdivision of that nation is named, placing it parenthetically (e.g. in the maritime boundaries for Indonesia we have "India (Andaman and Nicobar Islands)")
Your point about consistency with maps made me realize that none of these sections about boundaries for any nation sites a source. If there were a map that was recognized as an official source for Wikipedia, that might be a good thing. The problem with maps is that they are often controversial. It seems there is a longstanding dispute between France and Suriname, which inherited the dispute from the Netherlands, about exactly which river or stream is the ultimate source of a larger river and therefore forms the boundary. If we actually wanted to site the best original sources for boundaries, we would be looking at old treaties, and in many cases we would also be looking at years of litigation about those treaties. There is very little controversy in most cases about what nations border others, and that information seems to be considered important enough to be placed in the early paragraphs of every article about a nation on Wikipedia. If a person wants to look at maps for that information, they can do that. If a person comes to Wikipedia for that information, they want it in consistent and compact form, for the same reasons they go to their favorite fast food establishment.
My guess is that if there is a map with a dotted line representing an international border with both sides labeled periodically, it will be labeled with both nations or both regions more often than with one nation and one region. Areas on maps are labeled with both regional and national names, generally, depending on the detail, and usually distinguished by font or type size, with equal levels using matching type. I would say that maps that just label the region under discussion "French Guiana" with no mention that is part of France lead to the the kind of well-meaning ignorance exhibited by our friend from 76.181.33.3. I would further argue that such maps are not reliable sources of information because of the confusion they foster, and should not be cited or used as a basis for Wikipedia articles.
Right now it seems to me that the most commonly used method of reference on Wikipedia for nations bordering exclaves is "[Nation] ([Exclave Name])". If you want to go through and change all those to conform to another standard, as long as the reference gives preeminence to the nation, I would be fine with that. I would still prefer using "France (French Guiana)" and the general form "[Nation] ([Exclave Name)". It would be nice to hear what some other editors think before going forward.
Automeris (talk) 17:50, 28 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion[edit]

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 15:25, 23 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Altered Maps and Political Geography in Surinamese related Articles[edit]

Recently, many Surinamese related articles have displayed erroneous contributions (almost exclusively from user SurinameCentral) that usually involve the addition of highly politicized maps. Established maps are being removed. The maps by [User:SurinameCentral|SurinameCentral]] lack neutrality and are inaccurate. They target the established borders of other countries, namely Guyana and French Guiana. These maps are showing parts of Guyana as fully incorporated into Suriname, which is not only inaccurate but irresponsible given the politics and sensitivity of the issue concerning disputed lands. A Twitter and Facebook page of the same username shows a clear nationalistic and anti-Guyanese agenda, along with an obsession in distorting the geography of Guyana and French Guiana. Many articles are being affected and it is compromising the neutrality of Wikipedia. This instigates editing wars and compromises the integrity of Wikipedia. There is no problem displaying disputed territories. Work here must be done objectively and with transparency. 70.55.49.107 (talk) 00:51, 14 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

SurinameCentral Please edit your maps, in accordance with Wikipedia neutrality policy. I am requesting for these maps to be removed by Wikipedia until they are made objective and neutral by showing the two main disputed territories. I agree that these territories in Guyana and French Guiana are in question. In all fairness, we must make the public aware that they are in question, however, on both sides. Your maps are misleading and do a great disservice to the education of Surinamese people and the general public. 70.55.49.107 (talk) 01:11, 14 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The article and items in question have been updated to promote neutrality. We cannot address Twitter or Facebook content, only Wikipedia. The maps by SurinameCentral showed parts of French Guiana (France) and Guyana as fully incorporated in Suriname! That is like creating a map of Russia and incorporating Ukraine as Russia. We don't need this level of irresponsibility here as it has been a great source of problems in the past at Wikipedia. SurinameCentral should update their maps ASAP. See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Maps/Conventions/Disputed_areas for more info. 142.20.16.6 (talk) 05:17, 14 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Wait a minute. Just wait a minute. When ALL maps on this platform display Disputed Territory EXCLUSIVELY as Guyanase, or French Guianese, and area COMPLETELY Left out of maps of Suriname it bothers no one? But the MINUTE the roles are reversed, and the Areas are displayed under Surname Panic Mode here is activated? I am all for Justice and Honesty, the disputed areas of Suriname Cannot and must not be left out of maps. if you decide to show it as disputed, you may mark it as disputed. you may however not leave them out completely. The same must be true for Guyana and French Guiana, Those areas must be marked as disputed there too. imagine since we have internet we are seeing wrong incomplete maps of Suriname everywhere. i hope i make my point across here. even google maps updated their map to show the disputed areas accordingly. BOTH claim lines are displayed instead of showing the areas as part of Guyana/French Guiana and leaving them OFF the map of Suriname Completely.
"These maps are showing parts of Guyana as fully incorporated into Suriname, which is not only inaccurate but irresponsible given the politics and sensitivity of the issue concerning disputed lands" Brother, are you reading what you are writing? THis is EXACTLY what has been happening against Suriname all over the internet, and INCLUDING here on Wikipedia. None of the maps of Guyana/Suriname/French Guiana here were "Neutral" at all.
if you talk about Transparency, make sure that this is fair for Suriname as well. for Many years Surinamese cannot even find a proper map on the internet, because all of them are showing land that is still disputed completely for Guyana or French Guiana. If a map that shows these areas as Suriname is "wrong" then based on that argument every map displayed here where the disputed areas are shown as Guyana and French Guiana is also wrong.
and as last, do not compare this with Russia, this has nothing to do with Russia. these disputes have been here since many years, and for decades Suriname has been wronged by completely leaving out these areas from our maps, but proudly displaying them as Regions of Guyana.
you call this a anti-guyana war, that is not what this is at all. Guyana asked FB/Twitter to remove maps showing disputed areas as Venezuela/Suriname because they called it illegal. this is what sparked this fact that Surinamese are sharing their maps online. We have been a victim of wrong maps our entire existence, so do not place the victim role here elsewhere. SurinameCentral (talk) 12:03, 14 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
And as far as this Ortho Map Goes: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SUR_orthographic.svg
read the description that there is a color code in place , lighter green shows disputed areas. Why are you Constantly Reverting the edit where these areas are included? is that not "Transparency"?? Why are disputed areas marked accordingly on the page of India or Venezuela? Why are double standards being used by editors on this platform when it comes to Suriname? SurinameCentral (talk) 12:06, 14 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Protest Against Half/Incomplete Maps of Suriname being used on Wikipedia Articles[edit]

Dear Editors of Wikipedia, I am seeking help to correct a big injustice on this platform. This refers to the articles about Suriname. Suriname has 2 disputed areas since colonial times. One is with Guyana and one with French Guiana. These borders are till this day, May 2023, not settled, meaning they are disputed. Even Google maps and other map sources online show them as disputed, where BOTH country’s claims are displayed. Here on Wikipedia there seems to be a certain Bias of editors to leave these areas out completely from the maps of Suriname, while they are proudly displayed as Undisputed on the maps of Guyana. Some maps on this platform show the areas as Disputed at least on the maps of Suriname, but when it comes to Guyana/French Guiana, they are not marked as disputed. This is not Fair. A Disputed area means it is disputed between 2 countries, why is it that it is removed from the maps of Suriname and placed normally on the maps of the other country? Due to the lack of maps on the internet as Suriname sees the borders almost every map online is incomplete. Now that the Surinamese version of the maps are being placed online, they are being marked as “Not Neutral” ? where were these remarks for the past years where the maps of Guyana for example were not Marked accordingly? I want to ask Neutral Editor son this platform to change the Maps of Guyana-Suriname-French Guiana all equally showing disputed areas accordingly. It is not Correct, not Neutral, and not transparent to show these areas normally on Guyanese maps/Articles, on French Guianese maps/Articles but when it comes to Suriname, these areas are removed completely. And when people try to add them, they get reverted constantly. Thank you for reading, I hope to get some help in this matter because for Surinamese Citizens it is very disturbing to come to a source of information like Wikipedia and see incorrect/incomplete/Not Neutral maps of Suriname on this platform. SurinameCentral (talk) 12:44, 14 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

RFC: Disputed areas in Suriname maps[edit]


Should the maps of Suriname include the disputed areas?--Jerome Frank Disciple 12:30, 27 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This RFC was started by User:SurinameCentral. Pursuant to the discussion below, I have altered it to bring it into compliance with WP:RFCNEUTRAL and WP:RFCBRIEF.---Jerome Frank Disciple 12:30, 27 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion[edit]

Article talk pages are not a soapbox. This is the third discussion you've launched to lodge exactly the same complaint in the last four days. There's nothing wrong with your having expressed your concern or with pursuing a discussion that's already begun as others respond but it isn't appropriate for you to air the same grievance, at length and in dramatic fashion, repeatedly. Please stop. Largoplazo (talk) 22:47, 18 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
There's nothing wrong with using an RfC to draw wider attention to something that's only received local input. Snowmanonahoe (talk · contribs · typos) 23:31, 18 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, sorry, I didn't notice the RFC banner. Fair enough. Largoplazo (talk) 11:12, 19 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@SurinameCentral, RfC headers should be neutral. Please rewrite the section heading as a neutrally worded question. Snowmanonahoe (talk · contribs · typos) 23:34, 18 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
What part is not neutral? Please point out specifically because i cannot re-write if i dont know what is not considered neutral SurinameCentral (talk) 09:10, 19 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion of RFCNEUTRAL/RFCBRIEF

  • @SurinameCentral, I have written the section heading to be neutrally worded as is required for an RfC, as you have not. Feel free to rewrite it to something else that is neutral if you wish, but do not revert it. Snowmanonahoe (talk · contribs · typos) 19:10, 19 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks, no i will leave it like this. as long as the message is clear. SurinameCentral (talk) 20:15, 19 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Hey, I actually think this RFC doesn't meet the requirements of WP:RFCNEUTRALorWP:RFCBRIEF. Might I suggest changing the opening to: Should the maps of Suriname include the disputed areas?--~~~~ You can then include your current comment as the rationale behind your !vote--Jerome Frank Disciple 12:38, 22 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    ok i have changed the title of the RFC as you suggested. What needs to happen next in this request to include the disputed areas of Suriname ? SurinameCentral (talk) 00:12, 27 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Hey sorry I wasn't referring to the section title. Since you accepted my suggestion, I'm going to go ahead and change the RFC a bit just to bring it into compliance with WP:RFCNEUTRAL and WP:RFCBRIEF.--Jerome Frank Disciple 12:26, 27 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Ymnes: Good work. I think the map situation is much better now with your contribution. DutchDaan (talk) 00:57, 12 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you. By the way, you know that I know that you are not Dutch and that you showed on Dutch Wikipedia that you don't speak Dutch and that you have family in Guyana.
Switching the subject of this RfC, does everyone agree to switch to neutral maps of Suriname? And if not, why and please show reliable sources. Thanks in advance. Ymnes (talk) 18:22, 18 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Support Claims of territorial dispute are recognized by secondary sources, so there is no nontrivial content dispute here. –LaundryPizza03 (d) 22:22, 25 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

RfC: Should maps show border claims?[edit]

Should maps on Wikipedia show the border disputes of Suriname? Ymnes (talk) 06:45, 30 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Map with border claims
more examples
  • with Surinames claims
    Only Surinames claims
    more examples
  • Map with Guyanese and French claims
    Only Guyanese and French claims
    more examples
  • See also

    In recent decades Wikipedia has largely being using maps that where free to use. Since a lot of these free maps only show the Guyanese and French claims of the borders, this has resulted in the situation that Wikipedia predominantly shows this side of the border dispute. Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, however, is an English Wikipedia policy, as is in most other languages.

    In order to make a balance, map maker User:SurinameCentral has created maps that only show the Surinamese claims of the borders. The result was the discussion here above.

    Noticing the discussion, I started to make an inventory on Commons:User:Ymnes/Maps of Suriname. Meanwhile SurinameCentral has changed his map production on Commons by introducing neutral maps. Neutral in this sense is when one can view at the south borders that there is a border dispute with both neighbouring countries.

    However, a few users revert the introduction of neutral maps on Wikipedia. Therefore I have started this RfC in order to settle this. Do you support that neutral maps – when available – are used in articles on Wikipedia? Ymnes (talk) 06:45, 30 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Then can you make a map with the correct borders but that clearly shows the disputed areas separate from any country? SomeoneDreaming (talk) 17:08, 1 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I am planning to apply those changes. Not only for maps of Suriname but also Guyana and French Guiana. Wikipedia is missing truly neutral maps, I have read some useful things from other editors I will apply. SurinameCentral (talk) 22:48, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I don't think you should attempt that before this RFC closes. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested transmissions °co-ords° 22:58, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Making those maps is supporting this RfC, we have experienced yet, so yes, that's a good idea. Ymnes (talk) 04:18, 3 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Suriname Map Including Disputed Areas
    Hi @Ymnes i have made these 2 Maps as Neutral as i possibly could. Does anyone have any feedback? (French Guiana is on its way)
    Guyana Map Including Disputed Area
    SurinameCentral (talk) 00:58, 4 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    The job is very well. This is what we need. The purple colour is not so much my taste. I would have chosen on a colour near to the neighbouring colours. Ymnes (talk) 04:19, 4 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    The green map is also better because the uploader made the appropriate citations, credited the CIA source, and was fully transparent when making changes to the original image. DutchDaan (talk) 17:25, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    i do not agree with the green map, since it is not completely neutral. The river names that form the disputed area with Guyana are not what they are called in Suriname. Since this is a map Representing Suriname they should reflect the Surinamese Names. to maintain neutrality they should be left out completely. SurinameCentral (talk) 00:55, 4 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I absolutely agree, we should use the Surinamese river names for the Suriname map. DutchDaan (talk) 15:11, 9 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    on another note, i see you are replacing the maps of Suriname including the disputed areas. Use Neutral descriptions please. "Map of Suriname including disputed areas" seems sufficient. Thank you. SurinameCentral (talk) 16:01, 9 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    My apologies, I wrote very quick. Going forward, I will use "Map of Suriname including disputed areas" - agreed. DutchDaan (talk) 18:03, 9 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    This is completely mean. (and against Wikipedia:Assume good faith; an English Wikipedia behavioural guideline)
    • I am not a sock puppet of SurinameCentral!
    • I didn't effectuate a cross wiki campaign, but exchanged non-neutral for neutral maps (but you surely held a cross wiki campaign and reverted all, and more)
    • Give reliable sources that the Surinamese government has made an agenda of it (which was actually the Guyanese president or prime minister). The Surinamese economic situation has nothing to do with this (there are no reliable sources for that either – and I am Dutch, not Surinamese, not even related). As a matter of fact Suriname has been passive on this issue. Suriname is nothing like Venezuela, it's a calm democracy. Even ex-dictator (1980-1987) Desi Bouterse left in 2020 his presidency calmly without Venezuelan like circumstances, even when he was than yet in high appeal for 20 years of prisson.
    • And there is nothing extreme at using neutral maps. In fact this territory was occupied militarily by Guyana in 1969. So it cannot be denied at all that there is a border dispute.
    • And above all I am not an activist (here above I have given open cards on what I did and how). At a contrary, look at the messenger. DutchDaan is not Dutch (what he feigns with his name) and his thread shows clearly that he isn't Surinamese either (which he claims on his user page). And when looking at his account, maps are the only reason he started his account, not only in English, but cross wiki. This is who I am: 110.000+ edits on nl.Wikipedia, 40.000+ on Wikidata, 38.000 on Commons, 3.400 on en.Wikipedia, 2.800 on nl.wikinews. I am not a single issue pusher. Don't harm me with complete lies!
    I regard his thread as a personal attack on me and SurinameCentral! It isn't more than that. It is just meant to harm our reputation and to prevent a sound discussion to solve this map problem. And it is a problem because the border dispute is real and there are reliable sources that confirm that undeniably. Ymnes (talk) 18:09, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    How can you argue that a thread you started is a personal attack on you? Opening a request for comments means that many people will show up to comment... that's the point from what I understand, and what people will assume you're looking for when you post a RfC.
    Please do not make ad hominem attacks against editors just because they are making ad hominem attacks against you.
    Let's focus on the article rather than name-calling, please. Neutral maps are important, but as many editors have pointed out, the three proposed (yellow) maps are not neutral. User:SurinameCentral mentioned some potential problems with the exisitng (green, see my previous comment) map, but a) those are uncited and b) it is still better than the proposed change. SomeoneDreaming (talk) 18:36, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Dont blame me defending my integrity as a sound Wikipedian. That was a real personal attack. He uses lies on me and SurinameCentral to win the discussion. And his attacks cannot be proven, my statements on him can be: he doesn't speak Dutch / isn't Dutch, he isn't Surinamese, his account was started to defend usage of Guyana biased maps. His account history shows.
    And sure, the green map is very OK. And although SurinameCentral has yet improved a lot, which I support a lot too, there have been some real good suggestions to improve even more. But look at it neutrally: there is this Guyana biased situation here on Wikipedia. That is a problem, and intimidation should not win this discussion. Ymnes (talk) 18:59, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    @All - Mightbe I can be here tomorrow, but need to work during the week. Please keep on giving tips and suggestions and promoting a fruitful discussion. Thanks! Ymnes (talk) 19:12, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    @Ymnes: For the last time, stop commenting on my person. My ability (or lack thereof) to speak Dutch or questioning my nationality has nothing to do contributing to Wikipedia. It is utterly irrelevant here. It is provoking and unwanted. Stop editing my talk page (an admin had to stop you!). Leave me alone! DutchDaan (talk) 19:18, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Well I explained you there how you can have renamed your 'Dutch' account name. Just honestly do so when kindly asked. You are not Dutch and speak no Dutch. And please remove on your account that you're proud to be a Surinamese. You're not Surinamese. Ymnes (talk) 19:26, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Everyone needs to stop commenting on other editors. If you believe someone is behaving improperly you should take it to WP:ANI and make sure you have WP:DIFFS to back up your statements. Otherwise comments should be kept to the content issue. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested transmissions °co-ords° 19:32, 2 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I would normally this reply but you are making accusations here and therefore i must respond as follows:
    Your accusation towards @Ymnes and Me is totally unjustified and wrong. i am requesting to any editor with more experience reading this message to guide me to report this profile of @DutchDaan who is making false claims in his username, and profile page, he is Neither Dutch, or related to Suriname as claimed in his account. i Suggest an IP-Lookup will confirm that this user is Guyana Based. from the moment his profile was created his intentions were clear, and given how fast he managed to get a nice misleading user page with banners and everything, i suspect that this account itself is a secondary account of another user with more experience. i request guidance from anyone who can help to report this for a an investigation.
    All his arguments about the economic position etc is in my opinion just a smoke screen and has nothing to do with the topic at hand.
    Also STOP with calling maps of Suriname "Extremists" because if you are going to label that as Extremist, i can say the same about all the maps of Guyana that do NOT show a factual disputed area as disputed. If a map of Suriname that shows this area as Surinamese is considered Extremists, then the same applies to Guyana.
    Suriname and Netherlands do not have any disagreements on this matter. Another Smokescreen attempt.
    as for why nobody complained for the past 15 years, This website is not the easiest to find your way around. if there was a easier way to report things i am pretty sure it would be flooded with complaints about the Biased maps.
    in any case, i am at least happy to ready 1 or 2 sentences in your statement that agree with neutral borders, i will make sure the maps of Suriname reflect the disputed areas clearly, and then i will do the same for the maps of Guyana and French Guiana, because only then neutrality can be achieved on this platform. SurinameCentral (talk) 22:44, 3 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    If you want to make a report read my last comment, note that your own behaviour will also be under scrutiny when you do. All three of you need to read WP:CIVIL and WP:ASSUMEGOODFAITH, and stop making personal comments. This page should be only for discussions about article content. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested transmissions °co-ords° 22:55, 3 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Worse than Britannica[edit]

    Thanks to an incompetent sockpuppeteer who cannot make a point properly, we are currently worse than Britannica when it comes to the area of this country. The area is disputed, because there is a border dispute.

    A 21st century Gale encyclopaedia says 163,270, the 2004 Collins World Atlas says 163,820, the 2003 CIA World Factbook says 163,270, the 1990 Britannica Book of the Year says 163,820. The 2008 Britannica Book of the Year sticks to its guns with the 163,820 figure and has a footnote explaining that the dispute is the reason for the figure and what the difference is.

    Whereas we're devoting so much energy to a sockpuppetteer that we've not even managed to explain the figures to the reader as well as Britannica was doing in 2008.

    Uncle G (talk) 20:29, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

    Consistent use of color in Ethnicity section[edit]

    I think the graph and map in the Ethnicity section should use (as much as possible) the same color scheme to make things clearer. -- Dough34 (talk) 17:53, 22 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]


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