Belize is the most sparsely populated nation in Central America. It is larger than El Salvador. Slightly more than half of the people live in rural areas. About one-fourth live in Belize City, the principal port, commercial centre, and former capital.

Most Belizeans are of multiracial descent. About 48.7% of the population is of mixed Maya and European descent (Mestizo); 24.9% are of African and Afro-European ancestry; about 10.6% are Mayan; and about 6.1% are Afro-Amerindian (Garifuna). The remainder, about 9.7%, includes European, East Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and North American groups.

Because Belize's original Maya peoples were decimated by disease and wars, many of the country's Maya today are descended from other groups. The current Maya population consists of several different tribes. The Yucatecs fled to Belize in the late 1840s to escape the Caste War in Yucatan, Mexico. They live in the Orange Walk and Corozal districts, which border on Mexico. In the 1870s-1880s, the Kekchi ran from Verapaz, Guatemala, where their lands were being stolen for coffee plantations, which then enslaved them. They settled villages in the Toledo district. Living near rivers and streams, their lifestyle is self-reliant. The Mopans originated in Belize, but most were driven out to Guatemala after the British assumed control from the Spanish in the late 1700s. They returned to Belize in 1886, running from enslavement and taxation in Peten. The Cayo district and San Antonio in the Toledo district are their homes now. Some of the Kekchi and Mopan have mixed together.

English is the official language. The Spanish language is the native tongue of about 35% of the people and is spoken as a second language by another 20%. The various Maya groups still speak their original Mayan languages. Most people speak an English-based creole language, called Kriol in the new orthography, similar to various other English-based Creoles of the Caribbean. English is the primary language of public education, with Spanish taught in primary and secondary school as well. Bilingualism is encouraged.

The rate of functional literacy is 94.1%.

About 80% of the population is Christian; the Buddhist Church and other groups account for most of the remaining 20%. Mennonites make up 4.1% of the population. Their colloquial language is Plautdietsch, while standard German is mainly used as the language of worship and religious education. Muslim settlers number about 7,160 (2.5% of the population).

additional information from Wikipedia

12/27/07 by visitEarth
Tags:

 

Belize is a small Central American nation, located north of the equator and west of the Prime Meridian. It borders the Caribbean Sea to the east, with 386 km of coastline. It has a total of 516 km of land borders - Mexico to the north-northwest (250km) and Guatemala to the south-southwest (266 km). Belize's total size is 22,960 km sq, of which 22,800 km sq is land and 160 km sq is water; this makes the country ten times larger than the Australian Capital Territory, about half the size of Nova Scotia, slightly larger than Wales, and slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America and the only one without a Pacific coastline. Many coral reefs, cays, and islands to the east - such as Ambergris Caye, Lighthouse Reef, Glover Reef, and the Turneffe Islands - are part of Belize's territory, forming the Belize Barrier Reef, the longest in the western hemisphere stemming approximately 322 km (200 miles) and the second longest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef. The country's largest river is the eponyomous Belize River.

Geology: Belizean geology consists largely of varieties of limestone, with the notable exception of the Maya Mountains, a large intrusive block of granite and other Paleozoic sediments running northeast to southwest across the south-central part of the country. Several major faults rive these highlands, but much of Belize lies outside the tectonically active zone that underlies most of Central America. During the Cretaceous period, what is now the western part of the Maya Mountains stood above sea level, creating the oldest land surface in Central America, the Mountain Pine Ridge plateau.

The hilly regions surrounding the Maya Mountains are formed from Cretaceous limestone. These areas are characterized by a karst topography that is typified by numerous sinkholes, caverns, and underground streams. In contrast to the Mountain Pine Ridge, some of the soils in these regions are quite fertile and have been cultivated during at least the past 4,000 years.

Much of the northern half of Belize lies on the Yucatan Platform, a tectonically stable region. Although mostly level, this part of the country also has occasional areas of hilly, karst terrain, such as the Yalbac Hills along the western border with Guatemala and the Manatee Hills between Belize City and Dangriga. Alluvial deposits of varying fertility cover the relatively flat landscapes of the coastal plains.

Climate: Belize has a tropical climate with pronounced wet and dry seasons, although there are significant variations in weather patterns by region. Temperatures vary according to elevation, proximity to the coast, and the moderating effects of the northeast trade winds off the Caribbean. Average temperatures in the coastal regions range from 24 C in January to 27 C in July. Temperatures are slightly higher inland, except for the southern highland plateaus, such as the Mountain Pine Ridge, where it is noticeably cooler year round. Overall, the seasons are marked more by differences in humidity and rainfall than in temperature.

Average rainfall varies considerably, ranging from 1,350 millimeters in the north and west to over 4,500 millimeters in the extreme south. Seasonal differences in rainfall are greatest in the northern and central regions of the country where, between January and April or May, fewer than 100 millimeters of rain fall per month. The dry season is shorter in the south, normally only lasting from February to April. A shorter, less rainy period, known locally as the "little dry," usually occurs in late July or August, after the initial onset of the rainy season.

Hurricanes have played key--and devastating--roles in Belizean history. In 1931 an unnamed hurricane destroyed over two-thirds of the buildings in Belize City and killed more than 1,000 people. In 1955 Hurricane Janet leveled the northern town of Corozal. Only six years later, Hurricane Hattie struck the central coastal area of the country, with winds in excess of 300 kilometers per hour and four-meter storm tides. The devastation of Belize City for the second time in thirty years prompted the relocation of the capital some eighty kilometers inland to the planned city of Belmopan. The most recent hurricane to devastate Belize was Hurricane Greta, which caused more than US$25 million in damages along the southern coast in 1978.

additional information from Wikipedia

12/27/07 by visitEarth
Tags: