Suriname is a culturally separated society, with contact between its ethnic groups largely limited to the economic sphere. Fine arts, such as painting and sculpture, are primarily middle-class concerns controlled by Western—primarily Dutch—cultural standards.

There is one government-owned television station ,as well as a government-owned radio station and a number of small commercial radio stations. There are a few government-owned publications and two privately owned daily newspapers.Agriculture long formed the backbone of the Suriname economy, the mining of bauxite, an aluminum ore, generated the greatest amount of national income in the late 20th century.