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 and the two countries are involved in an ongoing border dispute. Guatemala and Belize are gearing up for a simultaneous referendum to determine if this dispute will go before the International Court of Justice at The Hague. 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, high crime rates, 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

slightly smaller than Massachusetts

386 km

tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to November); dry season (February to May)

flat, swampy coastal plain; low mountains in south

arable land potential, timber, fish, hydropower

30 sq km (2003)

18.6 cu km (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

only country in Central America without a coastline on the North Pacific Ocean

307,899 (July 2010 est.)

2.154% (2010 est.)

27.33 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

5.8 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

NA

3.28 children born/woman (2010 est.)

2.1% (2007 est.)

3,600 (2007 est.)

fewer than 200 (2007 est.)

mestizo 48.7%, Creole 24.9%, Maya 10.6%, Garifuna 6.1%, other 9.7% (2000 census)

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)

5.3% of GDP (2004)

parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm

6 districts; Belize, Cayo, Corozal, Orange Walk, Stann Creek, Toledo

21 September 1981 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 21 September (1981)

21 September 1981

English law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

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 (31 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)

Summary Jurisdiction Courts (criminal) and District Courts (civil jurisdiction); Supreme Court (the chief justice is appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal; Privy Council in the UK; member of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)

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 [John BRICENO]; 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, AOSIS, 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, PetroCaribe, RG, SICA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, 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 of 50 mahogany leaves; the colors are those of the two main political parties: blue for the PUP and red for the UDP; various elements of the coat of arms - the figures, the tools, the mahogany tree, and the garland of leaves - recall the logging industry that led to British settlement of Belize

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, though growth slipped to 2.1% in 2008 and -1.5% in 2009 as a result of the global slowdown, natural disasters, and the drop in the price of oil. Oil discoveries in 2006 bolstered economic growth. Exploration efforts continue and production increased a small amount in 2009. Major concerns continue to be the sizable trade deficit and sizable foreign debt. In February 2007, the government restructured nearly all of its public external commercial debt, which helped reduce interest payments and relieve some of the country's liquidity concerns. A key short-term objective remains the reduction of poverty with the help of international donors.

$2.555 billion (2009 est.)

$2.578 billion (2008 est.)

$2.485 billion (2007 est.)

$1.336 billion (2009 est.)

-0.9% (2009 est.)

3.8% (2008 est.)

1.2% (2007 est.)

$8,300 (2009 est.)

$8,600 (2008 est.)

$8,400 (2007 est.)

122,300

8.1% (2008)

9.4% (2006)

33.5% (2002 est.)

24.4% of GDP (2009 est.)

0.3% (2009 est.)

6.4% (2008 est.)

12% (31 December 2008)

12% (31 December 2007)

14.14% (31 December 2008)

14.33% (31 December 2007)

$345.7 million (31 December 2008)

$323.9 million (31 December 2007)

$653.8 million (31 December 2008)

$549 million (31 December 2007)

$955 million (31 December 2008)

$877.6 million (31 December 2007)

$NA

bananas, cacao, citrus, sugar; fish, cultured shrimp; lumber

garment production, food processing, tourism, construction, oil

0.5% (2009 est.)

213.5 million kWh (2007 est.)

198.5 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

248.4 million kWh (2005)

3,990 bbl/day (2009 est.)

7,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

2,260 bbl/day (2007 est.)

7,204 bbl/day (2007 est.)

6.7 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$39 million (2009 est.)

-$144.4 million (2008 est.)

$385 million (2009 est.)

$471.9 million (2008 est.)

sugar, bananas, citrus, clothing, fish products, molasses, wood, crude oil

US 30.7%, UK 29.77%, Nigeria 4.9%, Cote d'Ivoire 4.45% (2009)

$616 million (2009 est.)

$788.1 million (2008 est.)

machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods; fuels, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; food, beverages, tobacco

US 33.65%, Mexico 14.17%, Cuba 8.51%, Guatemala 6.75%, Spain 6.07%, China 4.12% (2009)

$199 million (31 December 2009 est.)

$166.2 million (31 December 2008 est.)

$954.1 million (2008 est.)

$1.2 billion (June 2005 est.)

Belizean dollars (BZD) per US dollar - 2 (2009), 2 (2008), 2 (2007), 2 (2006), 2 (2005)

31,100 (2008)

160,000 (2008)

8 privately-owned TV stations; multi-channel cable TV provides access to foreign stations; about 25 radio stations broadcasting on roughly 50 different frequencies; state-run radio was privatized in 1998 (2007)

.bz

2,880 (2010)

34,000 (2008)

45 (2010)

825 km (navigable only by small craft) (2008)

Belize City, Big Creek

Belize Defense Force (BDF): Army, BDF Air Wing (includes Special Boat Unit), BDF Volunteer Guard (2010)

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 (2008)

1.4% of GDP (2009)

OAS-initiated Agreement on the Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building Measures saw cooperation in repatriation of Guatemalan squatters and other areas, but Guatemalan land and maritime claims in Belize and the Caribbean Sea remain unresolved; 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; offshore sector money-laundering activity related to narcotics trafficking and other crimes (2008)