Informations on Belize

About Belize

Belize (pronounced /b?'li?z/) is a country in Central America. It is the only officially English speaking country in the region. A British colony for more than a century, it was known as British Honduras until 1973, and became an independent nation in 1981. Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Sistema de Integración Centroamericana (SICA), and the Commonwealth of Nations. With 8,867 square miles (22,960 km²) of territory and 297,651 people (Belize CSO, 2007 mid year estimate), the population density is the lowest in the Central American region and one of the lowest in the world. The country's growth rate is 3.5% (2006 estimate). It is bordered to the south and west by Guatemala, to the north and northwest by Mexico and to the east by the Caribbean Sea.

History

The Mopan Maya, were the original inhabitants of Belize. The Maya civilization spread itself over Belize beginning around 1500 BC, and flourished until about AD 900. European settlement began with the Baymen, British pirates, privateers and English seamen as early as 1638.

The origin of the name Belize is unclear, but one idea is that the name is from the Maya word belix, meaning "muddy water", applied to the Belize River. A less likely idea is that it derives from the Spanish pronunciation of the surname of the pirate who created the first settlement in Belize in 1638, Peter Wallace.

Another account believes the early settlement of "Belize in the Bay of Honduras" grew from a few habitations located at Belize Town and St. George's Caye into a de-facto colony of the United Kingdom during the late 18th century. In the early 19th century the settlement was called British Honduras, and in 1871 it became a Crown Colony.

Taking advantage of Spain's inability to establish control over present-day Belize, Englishmen began to cut logwood, a dyewood greatly valued in Europe as the principal dyestuff for the expanding wool industry. By the 1770s, a second tropical exotic timber, mahogany, replaced logwood as the main export from Belize. The economy of Belize remained based on the extraction of mahogany until the early 1900s when the cultivation of export crops such as citrus fruits, sugar cane, and bananas came to dominate the economy.

Hurricane Hattie inflicted significant damage upon Belize in 1961. The government decided that a coastal capital city lying below sea level was too risky. Over several years, the British colonial government designed a new capital, Belmopan, at the exact geographical centre of the country, and in 1970 began slowly moving the governing offices there.

British Honduras became a self-governing colony in January 1964 and was renamed "Belize" on June 1 1973; it was the United Kingdom's last colony on the American mainland. George Cadle Price led the country to full independence on September 21, 1981 after delays caused by territorial disputes with neighbouring Guatemala, which did not formally recognise the country.

Throughout Belize's history, Guatemala has claimed ownership of all or part of the territory. This claim is occasionally reflected in maps showing Belize as Guatemala's twenty-third province. As of March 2007, the border dispute with Guatemala remains unresolved and quite contentious; at various times the issue has required mediation by the United Kingdom, Caribbean Community heads of Government, the Organisation of American States, and the United States. Since independence, a British garrison has been retained in Belize at the request of the Belizean government. Notably, both Guatemala and Belize are participating in the confidence-building measures approved by the OAS, including the Guatemala-Belize Language Exchange Project.

In 2005, Belize was the site of unrest caused by discontent with the People's United Party government, including tax increases in the national budget. On February 8, 2008 Dean Barrow was sworn in as Belize's first black prime minister.

Politics

Belize is a parliamentary democracy and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The structure of government is based on the British parliamentary system, and the legal system is modeled on the common law of England. The current head of state is the Queen of Belize, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, who is represented in the country by the Governor-General. However, the cabinet, led by a prime minister, who is head of government, acting as advisors to the Governor-General, in practice exercise executive authority. Cabinet ministers are members of the majority political party in parliament and usually hold elected seats within it concurrent with their cabinet positions.

The bicameral National Assembly of Belize is composed of a House of Representatives and a Senate. The twenty-nine members of the House are popularly elected to a maximum five-year term and introduce legislation affecting the development of Belize. The Governor-General appoints the twelve members of the Senate, with a Senate president selected by the members. The Senate is responsible for debating and approving bills passed by the House.

Economy

According to the CIA World Factbook, Belize has the highest unemployment rate in Central America at 9.4%. The population living in poverty is at 33.5%.

The small, essentially private enterprise economy is based primarily on agriculture, agro-based industry, and merchandising, with tourism and construction assuming greater importance. Tourism has been, along with the sugar industry, the most important financial stronghold for Belize for decades. With the building of the port in Belize City, tourists can take cruises to the country and solely visit the tourist village that was built primarily for them. Sugar, the chief crop, accounts for nearly half of exports, while the banana industry is the country's largest employer. Citrus production has become a major industry along the Hummingbird Highway. More recently, discoveries of petroleum deposits in the Cayo District and possible deposits in the Toledo District have radically altered Belize's previously untapped mining and manufacturing capabilities.

The ruling government's big monetary and fiscal policies, initiated in September 1998, led to GDP growth of 6.4% in 1999 and 10.5% in 2000. Growth decelerated in 2001 to 3% because of the global slowdown and severe hurricane damage to agriculture, fishing and tourism. Growth in 2005 was 3.8%. Major concerns continue to be the rapidly expanding trade deficit and foreign debt. A key short-term objective remains the reduction of poverty with the help of international donors.

Demographics

Colonisation, slavery, and immigration have played major roles in affecting the ethnic composition of the population and as a result, Belize is a country of numerous cultures, languages, and ethnic groups. According to the latest census, the country's population is a little over 300,000.

The Mayan are thought to have been in Belize and the Yucatán region since the 500s AD. However, much of Belize's original Maya population was wiped out by disease and conflicts between tribes and with Europeans. Three Maya groups now inhabit the country: Yucatecs (who came from Yucatán, Mexico to escape the Caste War), Mopans (indigenous to Belize, but were forced out by the British; they returned from Guatemala to evade slavery), and Kekchi (also fled from slavery in Guatemala).

White English and Scottish settlers entered the area in the 1630s to cut logwood for export and began settling. The first African slaves began arriving from Africa elsewhere in the Caribbean and began intermarrying with many of the other ethnic groups in the country; intermingling with whites was not common, however, this mixture created the Belizean Kriol people ethnic grouping. After 1800, Mestizo settlers from Mexico and Guatemala began to settle in the north; the Garifuna, a mix of African, Arawak and Carib ancestry, settled in the south by way of Honduras not long after that. During the 1860s a large influx of Indians and American Civil War veterans from Louisiana and other Southern states established Confederate settlements in British Honduras and introduced commercial sugar cane production to the colony, establishing eleven settlements in the interior.

The 1900s saw the arrival of Asian settlers from mainland China, India, Taiwan, Korea, Syria, and Lebanon. Central American immigrants and expatriate Americans and Africans also began to settle in the country. Meanwhile, Kriols and other ethnic groups immigrated to the United States and elsewhere for better opportunities. Estimates have generally placed the number of the Belizean diaspora, consisting mainly of Kriols and Garinagu, at a number roughly equal to the current residents of Belize.

Self identified Mestizos comprise 50% of the population, Kriols 25%, indigenous Mayan 11%, and Garinagu 6%. The rest is a mix of Mennonite German farmers, East Indians, Chinese, other Central Americans, whites from the United States, and many other foreign groups brought to assist the country's development. Racial tension is rare because of constant admixture among the various ethnic groups.

English is the official language because Belize was a British colony and retains ties to Britain. However, most Belizeans use the more familiar Belize Kriol, an English-based creole. Spanish is the mother tongue of Mestizo and Central American settlers, and is a second language for much of the country. Less well known are the ancient Maya dialects, Garifuna (which is Arawakan based, with elements of the Carib language, French, and Spanish) and the Plautdietsch dialect of the Mennonites. Literacy currently stands at nearly 80%. In 2001 UNESCO declared the Garifuna language, dance and music a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity".

Religious freedom is guaranteed in Belize. It is a predominantly Christian society, with 49.6% of Belizeans Roman Catholic, and 27% Protestant. Much of the remaining population is comprised of Taoists, Buddhists and more recently introduced religions such as Jainism, Islam, and Bahá'í[citation needed]. Hinduism is followed by most Indian immigrants, while Islam is common among Middle Eastern immigrants and has gained a following among Kriols and Garifuna. Catholics frequently visit the country for special gospel revivals. There is also Eastern Orthodoxy in Santa Elena . Jehovah's Witnesses have experienced a significant increase in membership in recent years. According to the Witnesses, around 3% of the population attended at least one religious meeting in 2007.

Belize's birth rate currently stands at nearly 25/1000. Nearly 6 people die per year out of 1,000 members of the population; this figure includes murders, accidents and death from natural causes. Infant mortality, now at 24 deaths per thousand people, has been improving over the last century. Male babies are more likely to die than females. The life expectancy of a typical male is 66 years, while for a female it is 70. HIV/AIDS, while not a serious threat to national stability, does affect enough of the population to give Belize a high infection rating among Caribbean and Central American nations.

Belize has a relatively young and growing population. Its birth rate is among the highest in the world and there are indications that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.

National symbols

The national flower of Belize is the black orchid (Prosthechea cochleata, also known as Encyclia cochleata).