With Surinamese independence in 1975, growing concern about their future in the new country caused about a third of the Hindustani population to leave Surinam and emigrate to the Netherlands.[2] The Indo-Surinamese were predominantly Hindu, and as a result the Hindu population increased tenfold over the decade to 34,000 in 1980, continuing to climb to 61,000 in 1990 and 91,000 in 2000.[3]