Belize was the site of several Mayan city states until their decline at the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and Spanish disputed the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1854. Territorial disputes between the UK and Guatemala delayed the independence of Belize until 1981. Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation until 1992. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy. Current concerns include an unsustainable foreign debt, high unemployment, growing involvement in the South American drug trade, growing urban crime, and increasing incidences of HIV/AIDS.

Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Mexico
17 15 N, 88 45 W
Central America and the Caribbean
total: 22,966 sq km ; land: 22,806 sq km ; water: 160 sq km
slightly smaller than Massachusetts
total: 516 km ; border countries: Guatemala 266 km, Mexico 250 km
386 km
territorial sea: 12 nm in the north, 3 nm in the south; note - from the mouth of the Sarstoon River to Ranguana Cay, Belize's territorial sea is 3 nm; according to Belize's Maritime Areas Act, 1992, the purpose of this limitation is to provide a framework for negotiating a definitive agreement on territorial differences with Guatemala ; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to November); dry season (February to May)
flat, swampy coastal plain; low mountains in south
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m ; highest point: Victoria Peak 1,160 m
arable land potential, timber, fish, hydropower
arable land: 3.05% ; permanent crops: 1.39% ; other: 95.56% (2005)
30 sq km (2003)
18.6 cu km (2000)
Total: 0.15 cu km/yr (7%/73%/20%) ; Per capita: 556 cu m/yr (2000)
frequent, devastating hurricanes (June to November) and coastal flooding (especially in south)
deforestation; water pollution from sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff; solid and sewage waste disposal
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling ; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
only country in Central America without a coastline on the North Pacific Ocean
294,385 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 38.9% (male 58,459/female 56,183) ; 15-64 years: 57.5% (male 85,686/female 83,717) ; 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 4,979/female 5,361) (2007 est.)
total: 19.9 years ; male: 19.7 years ; female: 20 years (2007 est.)
2.258% (2007 est.)
28.34 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
5.76 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.041 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 1.024 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.929 male(s)/female ; total population: 1.027 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 24.38 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 27.43 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 21.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 68.25 years ; male: 66.44 years ; female: 70.16 years (2007 est.)
3.52 children born/woman (2007 est.)
2.4% (2003 est.)
3,600 (2003 est.)
less than 200 (2003 est.)
noun: Belizean(s) ; adjective: Belizean
mestizo 48.7%, Creole 24.9%, Maya 10.6%, Garifuna 6.1%, other 9.7%
Roman Catholic 49.6%, Protestant 27% (Pentecostal 7.4%, Anglican 5.3%, Seventh-Day Adventist 5.2%, Mennonite 4.1%, Methodist 3.5%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.5%), other 14%, none 9.4% (2000)
Spanish 46%, Creole 32.9%, Mayan dialects 8.9%, English 3.9% (official), Garifuna 3.4% (Carib), German 3.3%, other 1.4%, unknown 0.2% (2000 census)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write ; total population: 76.9% ; male: 76.7% ; female: 77.1% (2000 census)


conventional long form: none ; conventional short form: Belize ; former: British Honduras
parliamentary democracy
name: Belmopan ; geographic coordinates: 17 15 N, 88 46 W ; time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time)
6 districts; Belize, Cayo, Corozal, Orange Walk, Stann Creek, Toledo

21 September 1981 (from UK)
Independence Day, 21 September (1981)
21 September 1981
English law
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Sir Colville YOUNG, Sr. (since 17 November 1993) ; head of government: Prime Minister Said Wilbert MUSA (since 28 August 1998); Deputy Prime Minister Vildo MARIN (since 5 June 2007) ; cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister ; elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister
bicameral National Assembly consists of the Senate (12 seats; members appointed by the governor general - 6 on the advice of the prime minister, 3 on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and 1 each on the advice of the Belize Council of Churches and Evangelical Association of Churches, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Belize Better Business Bureau, and the National Trade Union Congress and the Civil Society Steering Committee; to serve five-year terms) and the House of Representatives (29 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms); note - number of seats will increase to 31 next election ; elections: House of Representatives - last held 5 March 2003 (next to be held in March 2008) ; election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PUP 21, UDP 8
Supreme Court (the chief justice is appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister)
National Alliance for Belizean Rights or NABR; National Reform Party or NRP [Cornelius DUECK]; People's National Party or PNP [Wil MAHEIA]; People's United Party or PUP [Said MUSA]; United Democratic Party or UDP [Dean BARROW]; Vision Inspired by the People or VIP [Paul MORGAN]; We the People Reform Movement or WTP [Hipolito BAUTISTA]
Society for the Promotion of Education and Research or SPEAR [Gustavo PERERA]; Association of Concerned Belizeans or ACB [David VASQUEZ]; National Trade Union Congress of Belize or NTUC/B [Rene GOMEZ]
ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, ITUC, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
blue with a narrow red stripe along the top and the bottom edges; centered is a large white disk bearing the coat of arms; the coat of arms features a shield flanked by two workers in front of a mahogany tree with the related motto SUB UMBRA FLOREO (I Flourish in the Shade) on a scroll at the bottom, all encircled by a green garland
chief of mission: Ambassador Lisa M. SHOMAN ; chancery: 2535 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 ; telephone: [1] (202) 332-9636 ; FAX: [1] (202) 332-6888 ; consulate(s) general: Los Angeles
chief of mission: Ambassador Robert J. DIETER ; embassy: Floral Park Road, Belmopan City, Cayo District ; mailing address: P.O. Box 497, Belmopan City, Cayo District, Belize ; telephone: [501] 822-4011 ; FAX: [501] 822-4012





In this small, essentially private-enterprise economy, tourism is the number one foreign exchange earner followed by exports of marine products, citrus, cane sugar, bananas, and garments. The government's expansionary monetary and fiscal policies, initiated in September 1998, led to sturdy GDP growth averaging nearly 4% in 1999-2007. Oil discoveries in 2006 bolstered the economic growth in 2006 and 2007. Major concerns continue to be the sizable trade deficit and unsustainable foreign debt. In February 2007, the government restructured nearly all of its public external commercial debt, which will reduce interest payments and create the liquidity relief needed for an increase in public spending in the run-up to the March 2008 elections. A key short-term objective remains the reduction of poverty with the help of international donors.
$2.336 billion (2007 est.)
$1.138 billion (2007 est.)
3% (2007 est.)
$7,800 (2007 est.)
agriculture: 21.3% ; industry: 13.7% ; services: 65% (2007 est.)
113,000 ; note: shortage of skilled labor and all types of technical personnel (2006 est.)
agriculture: 22.5% ; industry: 15.2% ; services: 62.3% (2005 est.)
9.4% (2006)
33.5% (2002 est.)
lowest 10%: NA% ; highest 10%: NA%

2.8% (2007 est.)
22.4% of GDP (2007 est.)
revenues: $328.5 million ; expenditures: $365 million (2007 est.)

bananas, cacao, citrus, sugar; fish, cultured shrimp; lumber; garments
garment production, food processing, tourism, construction, oil
0.5% (2007 est.)
200 million kWh (2007 est.)
fossil fuel: 59.9% ; hydro: 40.1% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
162.8 million kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
2,413 bbl/day (2006)
3,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)
1,960 bbl/day (2006)
6,754 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
-$54 million (2007 est.)
$437 million f.o.b. (2007 est.)
sugar, bananas, citrus, clothing, fish products, molasses, wood
US 33.9%, UK 33.6%, Cote d'Ivoire 3.7% (2006)
$670 million f.o.b. (2007 est.)
US 35.7%, Mexico 13%, Cuba 7.7%, Guatemala 7.2%, China 4.3% (2006)

$92 million (31 December 2007 est.)
$1.2 billion (June 2005 est.)


$NA
Belizean dollar (BZD)
BZD
Belizean dollars per US dollar - 2 (2007), 2 (2006), 2 (2005), 2 (2004), 2 (2003)
1 April - 31 March
$12.91 million (2005)
33,900 (2006)
118,300 (2006)
general assessment: above-average system; fixed-line teledensity of 12 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of about 40 per 100 persons ; domestic: trunk network depends primarily on microwave radio relay ; international: country code - 501; landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth station - 8 (Intelsat - 2, unknown - 6) (2007)
AM 1, FM 16, shortwave 0 (2006)
133,000 (1997)
5 (2006)
41,000 (1997)
.bz
1,942 (2007)
2 (2000)
34,000 (2006)

44 (2007)
total: 4 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 1 ; under 914 m: 2 (2007)
total: 40 ; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 12 ; under 914 m: 27 (2007)



total: 2,872 km ; paved: 488 km ; unpaved: 2,384 km (1999)
825 km (navigable only by small craft) (2007)
total: 261 ships (1000 GRT or over) 940,852 GRT/1,275,111 DWT ; by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 36, cargo 190, chemical tanker 5, container 5, petroleum tanker 9, refrigerated cargo 8, roll on/roll off 6, specialized tanker 1 ; foreign-owned: 217 (China 107, Croatia 1, Cyprus 1, Estonia 1, Hong Kong 5, Iceland 1, Italy 4, Japan 2, South Korea 4, Latvia 14, Norway 3, Peru 1, Philippines 1, Russia 39, Singapore 3, Spain 2, Turkey 11, Ukraine 10, UAE 4, US 3) (2007)
Belize City, Big Creek

Belize Defense Force (BDF): Army, Maritime Wing, Air Wing, and Volunteer Guard
18 years of age for voluntary military service; laws allow for conscription only if volunteers are insufficient; conscription has never been implemented; volunteers typically outnumber available positions by 3:1 (2001)
males age 18-49: 61,201 ; females age 18-49: 60,048 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 44,238 ; females age 18-49: 43,633 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 3,213 ; females age 18-49: 3,100 (2005 est.)
1.4% (2006)

annual ministerial meetings under the OAS-initiated Agreement on the Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building Measures continue to address Guatemalan land and maritime claims in Belize and Caribbean Sea; the Line of Adjacency created under the 2002 Differendum serves in lieu of the contiguous international boundary to control squatting in the sparsely inhabited rain forests of Belize's border region; Honduras claims Belizean-administered Sapodilla Cays in its constitution but agreed to a joint ecological park under the Differendum

transshipment point for cocaine; small-scale illicit producer of cannabis, primarily for local consumption; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trafficking and offshore sector

