[1] The border runs between two triple points with Guyana in the west and French Guiana in the east.

The border region between Brazil and Suriname is extremely isolated, with only a few indigenous villages and malocas on the riverbanks.

[2] Early colonial outposts in South America, especially in the Guianas, were largely confined to the coast and rivers.

The dense Amazon rainforest made the potential resource exploitation that drove the French, English, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese to colonize the region difficult due to the difficulty in traversing the terrain.

The Dutch had maintained friendly relations with Brazil since its independence from Portugal and requested that they wait to define their shared border to not upset France or the United Kingdom who were interested in the unclaimed Amazonian region.