The 1980 Surinamese coup d'tat, usually referred to as the Sergeants' Coup (Dutch: De Sergeantencoup), was a military coup in Suriname which occurred on 25 February 1980, when a group of 16 sergeants (Dutch: groep van zestien, lit.'group of sixteen') of the Surinamese Armed Forces (SKM) led by Dsi Bouterse overthrew the government of Prime Minister Henck Arron with a violent coup d'tat. This marked the beginning of the military dictatorship that dominated the country from 1980 until 1991. The dictatorship featured the presence of an evening curfew, the lack of freedom of press, a ban on political parties (from 1985), a restriction on the freedom of assembly, a high level of government corruption and the summary executions of political opponents.

Suriname ( (listen)) or Surinam, officially known as the Republic of Suriname (Dutch: Republiek Suriname [reːpyˌblik ˌsyːriˈnaːmə]), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, and Brazil to the south. At just under 165,000 square kilometers (64,000 square miles), it is the smallest sovereign state in South America. It has a population of approximately 575,990, most of whom live on the country's north coast, in and around its capital and largest city, Paramaribo.

Situated slightly north of the equator, Suriname is a tropical country dominated by rainforests. Its extensive tree cover is vital to the country's efforts to mitigate climate change and maintain carbon negativity. A developing country with a relatively high level of human development, Suriname's economy is heavily dependent on its abundant natural resources, namely bauxite, gold, petroleum and agricultural products.

Suriname was inhabited as early as the fourth millennium BC by various indigenous peoples, including the Arawaks, Caribs, and Wayana. Europeans arrived in the 16th century, with the Dutch establishing control over much of the country's current territory by the late 17th century. During the Dutch colonial period, Suriname was a lucrative source of sugar, its plantation economy driven by African slave labor and, after abolition of slavery in 1863, indentured servants from Asia. In 1954, Suriname became one of the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. On 25 November 1975, it left the Kingdom to become an independent state, but continues to maintain close economic, diplomatic, and cultural ties with it.

Suriname is considered a culturally Caribbean country, and is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It is the only sovereign nation outside of Europe where Dutch is the official and prevailing language of government, business, media, and education. According to research by the Dutch Language Union, Dutch is the native language of 60% of Surinamese. Sranan Tongo, an English-based creole language, is a widely used lingua franca.