BELIZE
Spanish BELICE, country in the northeast of Central America, covering an area of 8,867 square miles (22,965 square km). The capital is Belmopan. It is bounded by Mexico to the north and northwest, by Guatemala to the south and west, and by the Caribbean Sea along its
174-mile (280-kilometre) coastline to the east. The population in 1990 was estimated to be 189,000.
The land.
Belize is a land of mountains, swamps, and tropical jungle. The northern half consists of largely swampy lowlands less than 200 feet (60 m) above sea level. They are drained by the navigable Belize River, the New River, and the Honda River; the latter forms the northern frontier with Mexico. The southern half of Belize is dominated by the Maya Mountains, a limestone (karst) plateau cut by erosion into hills and valleys extending northeastward from the Guatemalan boundary. The Cockscomb Mountains, a spur of the Maya Mountains, run toward the sea, rising to 3,681 feet (1,122 m) at Victoria Peak, the highest point in Belize. Off the coast lies the world's second largest barrier reef (see photograph).
The climate is subtropical, with a distinct dry season from late February to May and a wet season from June to November; the latter is
interrupted from August to September by a shorter dry period. The average temperature at Belize City is 74 F (23 C) in December and 84 F (29 C) in July. The average annual rainfall increases sharply from 51 inches (1,295 mm) in the north to 175 inches (4,445 mm) in the south, but there are considerable yearly variations at all locations. Hurricanes, which are an annual threat from July through November, were largely responsible for the shift of the capital from Belize City, which was devastated by a hurricane in 1961, to Belmopan.
Roughly 45 percent of Belize is forested, with at least 50 different tree species. In the north the forest is deciduous, and sapodilla, mahogany, and ironwood predominate. In the south the forest is taller and is mainly oak, pine, and cedar. The rivers are largely bordered by swamp forests. On the coastal plain open savanna is interrupted by scattered oaks, pines, and palmetto palms. The coast is fringed with mangrove trees. The country's abundant wildlife includes the jaguar, tapir, a variety of deer, American crocodile, and manatee, as well as many species of turtles, birds, and fish.
Belize is poor in resources, with plentiful supplies only of limestone, sand, and gravel. Petroleum was discovered in northern Belize during exploratory drilling in 1981.
The people.
Much of Belize's population is racially mixed. People of mixed African
and European ancestry, who are called Creoles, predominate in the coastal regions, while Maya Indians and mestizos, who are of mixed
Maya and European ancestry, predominate in the more sparsely inhabited interior. Black Caribs--descendants of Africans and the Carib Indians exiled from the British West Indies in the 18th century--live in settlements on the southern coast. There also are small numbers of Europeans, East Indians, and Salvadorans living in the coastal area. English is the official language, but a Creole patois is commonly spoken. Indians speak Spanish or one of several Indian languages. Roman Catholicism is the principal religion, but there are sizable minorities of Methodists and Anglicans; groups of Mennonites, who migrated from Mexico and Canada after 1958, have established settlements inland on the Belize River.
The country's birth and death rates remain relatively high; the annual rate of growth has been augmented by refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala.
The economy.
Belize has a developing free-market economy with some government participation. The gross national product (GNP) has been increasing more rapidly than the population. The GNP per capita is higher than the average for Central American countries. Agriculture, trade, and manufacturing are principal components of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Agriculture generates one-fifth of the GDP. Less than 3 percent of the
country's total land area is cultivated, but as much as one-fourth of the labour force is involved in farming. Cash crops grown include sugarcane, oranges, grapefruit, and bananas. Commercial cultivation of cacao, coconuts, and peanuts (groundnuts) was introduced in the early 1980s. Domestic crops include corn (maize), rice, kidney beans, sweet potatoes, yams, and vegetables.
Pastures occupy about 2 percent of the land; the principal livestock include cattle and pigs, and the Mennonite population has started a dairy industry.
A prolonged decline in timber production was reversed by the late
1970s; most of the wood cut annually is used for fuel. The government
has introduced reforestation with fast-growing gmelina, eucalyptus, and pine and encourages cutting of nontraditional species for furniture and construction. Belize also produces chicle, extracted from sapodilla trees.
Fishing is carried out mainly by several cooperatives; a large proportion of the catch--mostly lobster, shrimp, scale fish, and sea turtles--is frozen or canned for export.
Manufacturing generates about one-seventh of the GDP and produces
some exports. The principal industries include food products, clothing, sawed wood and wood products, and fertilizer and animal feed. All of the country's electric energy is produced by thermal power plants.
Construction accounts for less than one-tenth of the GDP and is
coordinated by the Ministry of Works, using its own workforce with
private contractors.
The United General Workers Union is the largest labour federation.
Cooperatives and credit unions are common in agriculture, fishing,
marketing, and housing. With industrial development, shortages of skilled workers have become the principal labour problem.
Belize depends on foreign development aid, mainly from the United
Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. By carefully regulating
domestic policy, the government has generated annual surpluses in
recurrent budgets while using foreign assistance for the capital budget, thereby keeping the public debt under control.
Only about one-seventh of Belize's roads are paved. Inland waterways,
usable by shallow-draft vessels, total about 500 miles (800 km). Belize City has a deepwater port, and Commerce Bight has a pier for
oceangoing vessels. An international airport is located near Belize City.
Belize's exports ordinarily fall far short of its imports. Sugar, clothing, lobster, molasses, and citrus fruits are the principal exports, while imports consist mostly of manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, and refined fuels. Belize's major trading partners are the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, and Jamaica. The trade deficit is partly reduced by remittances from Belizeans working abroad.
Government and social conditions.
Belize is a constitutional monarchy. Its nominal head of state is the
British monarch, represented in Belize by a governor-general. Belize's constitution of 1981 vests legislative responsibility in the bicameral National Assembly, which consists of a Senate and a House of
Representatives. Executive power is held by the prime minister, who is normally appointed by the governor-general and is the leader of the
majority party in the House. The cabinet is also appointed by the
governor-general, on the advice of the prime minister. Representatives are elected by universal adult suffrage (age 18 and over), but senators are appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister, the leader of the opposition party in the House, and the Belize Advisory Council. The dominant political parties are the People's United Party and the United Democratic Party.
Social-security benefits are provided to sick, disabled, and unemployed workers and to survivors of deceased insured workers. Medical care is free for most Belizeans, and the government operates and staffs hospitals, dental clinics, and child-care facilities, as well as rural health centres and mobile clinics. Sanitary conditions, however, are poor; polluted water and gastrointestinal disease are major factors in the high infant mortality rate. Life expectancy is about 70 years.
Education is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 14.
Most schools are church-operated and are jointly funded by the
government and their respective church organizations. The literacy rate among citizens over 15 years of age is more than 90 percent.
The press in Belize is generally free from censorship. The nation has
radio and television service.
Cultural life.
Mayan antiquities are exhibited in the Baron Bliss Institute in Belize City. Belize's most important indigenous festival is Dangriga's Settlement Day, which features Caribbean songs and dances. Belize associates itself culturally with the English-speaking Caribbean states.
History.
Mayan civilization flourished in what is now Belize from about 300 BC
to AD 900. The ruins of Mayan ceremonial centres can still be seen,
particularly those of Caracol and Xunantunich (see photograph).
Sometime after the 6th century, Mayan settlement in the area reached its peak with an estimated population of 25,000.
The Spanish, though holding nominal sovereignty, never attempted to
settle Belize, but they always regarded as interlopers the British who did settle there. Sometime in the mid-17th century a group of English seamen, mostly pirates and adventurers, settled St. George's Cay and began cutting logwood, a material used for dyeing; it remained Belize's main export until it was surpassed by mahogany in the late 18th century. (see also Index: British Empire)
British settlement of Belize was recognized in a number of treaties, and Spain's last attempt to take the settlement by force was defeated in 1798. British settlers began to penetrate the interior as coastal timber became exhausted. The Indians resisted this penetration, and the 19th century was punctuated by clashes between the two. Slavery was also a factor in the logging enterprises, but conditions were superior to those of the Caribbean sugar plantations, and emancipation was accomplished by 1838.
In 1862 British Honduras, as Belize was then called, became a crown
colony, but an unfulfilled provision of a treaty made between Britain and Guatemala in 1859 led Guatemala to claim British Honduras. In 1981
Great Britain granted British Honduras its independence as Belize. The new nation's security remained threatened by Guatemala, which viewed Belize as a "lost province" to be regained by force. To counter that threat, Belize relied on a British military force stationed on its territory. With an improvement of relations between Belize and Guatemala in the early 1990s, however, the British troops were withdrawn in 1994.
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Source: eb.com
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