Wilhelmina Gebergte

Wilhelmina Gebergte, mountain range in central Suriname, forming part of South America’s granitic Precambrian Guiana Shield, extending about 70 mi (113 km) from west to east. The range divides Suriname’s western district of Nickerie from the eastern districts of Saramacca, Brokopondo, and Marowijne. The Wilhelmina Gebergte descends gradually into two lesser ranges of hills to the north—the Bakhuis Gebergte (west) and Emmaketen (east). To the south the range connects with the broad plateau formed by the Eilerts de Haan and Kayser ranges. The Wilhelmina Gebergte is itself a broad plateau region that reaches its highest point at Juliana Top (4,199 ft [1,280 m]). The terrain rises gradually from the coastal lowlands into grassland, becoming hilly and then densely forested with over 2,000 varieties of trees. The land on either side of the range is densely covered in tropical rain forest, exhibiting a profuse indigenous wildlife, including scarlet macaws, howler monkeys, and peccaries.