This book is published to mark the 150th anniversary of De Surinaamsche Bank (DSB). Suriname has changed dramatically over the past 150 years. It has developed from a colony to an independent republic. Economically, Suriname has made a transformation from a plantation to a mining economy. With a population made up of indigenous peoples, Europeans, former slaves, indentured labourers from China, the former British and Dutch East Indies, and peoples from other corners of the globe who settled there, Suriname has transformed itself into the successful multicultural society that it is today. Since it's founding, De Surinaamsche Bank has played a major role in the development of Surinamese society, reason enough to explore the country's past, present and future.