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Resort and town
Map showing resorts in Wanica District
Map showing resorts in Wanica District
Lelydorp is located in Suriname
Map showing resorts in Wanica District
Coordinates: 5°42′06″N 55°14′00″W﻿ / ﻿5.70167°N 55.23333°W﻿ / 5.70167; -55.23333
Country  Suriname
District Wanica District
 • Total 149 km2 (58 sq mi)
Elevation 9 m (30 ft)
Population (2012)
 • Total 19,910
 • Density 130/km2 (350/sq mi)
Time zone AST (UTC-3)

Lelydorp is the capital city of Wanica District, located in Suriname. With a population of 18,663 (2012), it is the second largest city in Suriname, after Paramaribo.[1] It is located at around 5°42′N 55°14′W﻿ / ﻿5.700°N 55.233°W﻿ / 5.700; -55.233Coordinates: 5°42′N 55°14′W﻿ / ﻿5.700°N 55.233°W﻿ / 5.700; -55.233.

It was originally called Kofi Djompo but was renamed by Cornelis Lely (the Dutch governor of Suriname in 1905) and since then it is known as Lelydorp. Lely was responsible for many large water construction projects in the Netherlands.

The original name Kofi Djompo is said to refer to a maroon rebel leader called Kofi, who was captured by the Dutch and then decapitated. The Dutch took his head on a boat and attached it to a stick as a warning to the other slaves who had escaped and were wandering in the forest. It is said that when the boat reached the middle of the river, the head of Kofi jumped out the boat and disappeared. Kofi means "born on Friday" (Kofi Annan, for example, was born on a Friday). Djompo means "jump".

Lelydorp is more like a big village instead of a city. Wanica has a population of about 80,000 and an area of about 440 km². With a population of this size, Wanica is one of Suriname's most populated and most urbanised districts. Wanica is divided into resorts: De Nieuwe Grond, Domburg, Houttuin, Koewarasan, Kwatta, Lelydorp, Saramacca Polder. In the 1950s, a test was made in Lelydorp with a medical center that also had to function as mini-hospital.

Lelydorp is also the most important halfway stopping point between Paramaribo and Zanderij, where the Johan Pengel Airport is located. Its population consists of a mixture of Javanese, East Indian, Creoles, Europeans and Portuguese Jews. Names of roads and streets in Lelydorp, like Dessa Sidodadi and Tawajari, are typical original names from Indonesia. The small river known as "Tawajari Creek" divides Lelydorp from Saramacca.


  1. ^ "World Gazetteer/ Suriname". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18.