THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 22,965 sq. km (8,867 sq. miles)
Population: 240,204
Capital City: Belmopan (population: 8,130
at census of 12 May 2000)
People: Mestizos (Maya/Spanish 44%),
Black Creoles (of African descent) or
Caribbeans (30%), Maya 11%, European,
East Indian and Chinese 8%, and
Garifuna 7%.
Language(s): Officially English;
however, Spanish and a Creole dialect
are widely spoken. There are a number
of indigenous languages, such as
Garifuna, Maya and Ketchi.
Religion(s): Predominantly Christianity;
the Roman Catholic Church is the
largest denomination. Small groups
practice Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and
Bahai.
Currency: Belizean Dollar (BZ$). BZ$2
equates to US£1.
Major political parties: The People's
United Party (PUP), United Democratic
Party (UDP), National Alliance for
Belizean Rights (NABR), People's
Liberation Front (PLF), We The People.
Government: Bicameral National
Assembly. Senate of 13, 7 appointed by
the Prime Minister, 3 by the Leader of
the Opposition and 1 each by the
National Trade Union Congress of Civil
Society, the Belize Council of Churches
and Belize Chamber of Commerce. The
lower house, the House of
Representatives has 29 (not including
the Speaker) directly elected members
serving a five-year term.
Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II,
represented by a Governor-General
GEOGRAPHY
Belize is about the size of Wales, with
large areas unpopulated and covered in
forest. It lies on the Caribbean coast of
Central America, bordering Mexico and
Guatemala. It has a well-preserved
environment and the world's fifth
longest barrier reef and the longest
coral reef in the Western Hemisphere
(184 miles long) running along the
offshore islands (or Cayes).
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
1638 – First record of British
settlement in Belize.
1670 – Treaty of Madrid. Spain
acknowledges Britain's title to
Jamaica and other de facto
possessions 'in the West Indies, or any
part of America'.
1763 – Treaty of Paris. Spain concedes
to Britain the right to cut logwood in
the Bay of Honduras but retains claim
of sovereignty over Belize.
1786 - Convention of London. Spain
extends the area of Britain's logwood
concession and Britain gives up her
claim to the Mosquito Coast (in what is
now Nicaragua).
1798 - Battle of St George's Cay.
Decisive naval victory by British
settlers against Spain. This was the last
time that Spain attempted to gain
control of Belize.
1859 – Anglo-Guatemalan Treaty
concluded and ratified. Guatemala
agrees to existing boundary with
British Honduras as Belize was then
called.
1862 – The settlement was given
colonial status as British Honduras,
with a Lieutenant-Governor under the
Governor of Jamaica.
1871 – The Crown Colony System of
Government was introduced.
1884 - The link with Jamaica was
broken and the title of Lieutenant
Governor was changed, with a
Governor being appointed.
1919 - Beginning of the black
independence movement.
1940 – Guatemala declares 1859 Treaty
to be invalid.
1954 – George Price elected First
Minister of British Honduras.
1964 – Belize became an internally
self-governing British colony.
1960s to 1970s – numerous attempts
were made to resolve the territorial
dispute through negotiations.
1973 – British Honduras reverted to
the name of Belize.
From 1975 onwards - successive UN
Resolutions endorsed Belize's right to
self-determination, independence and
territorial integrity.
1981 – On 11 March, Britain, Guatemala
and Belize released a Heads of
Government Agreement aimed at
bringing about a peaceful resolution to
the dispute.
1981 - On 21 September, Belize became
an independent member of the British
Commonwealth recognising Queen
Elizabeth as the head of state.
1984 - The centre-right United
Democratic Party (UDP), led by Manuel
Esquivel, defeated the centre-left
People's United Party (PUP) in
elections in December.
1991 – Guatemala recognises the right
of the Belizean people to
self-determination.
1998 – The PUP led by Said Musa
achieved a landslide victory at the
general election on 27 August, taking
26 out of 29 seats in the National
Assembly.
2003 – The PUP led by Said Musa win
22 of 29 seats in the National Assembly
in general elections held on the 5
March.
Recent History
Belize (formerly British Honduras) is
the only Commonwealth country in
Central America. As a British
Dependent Territory, Belize enjoyed
internal self-government, with some
responsibility for external affairs from
1964 until full independence in 1981.
Over three hundred years of history
shared with Britain bequeathed her the
English language, a Westminster-style
parliamentary democracy, as well
many other state institutions similar to
the UK's own.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: US$0.8 bn (2000)
GDP per head: US$ 3,440 (2000),
US$3,674 (2001)
Annual Growth: 4.6% (2001), 4.4%
(2002)
Inflation: 0.7% (2000), 2.3% (2002)
Major Industries: sugar, citrus
concentrates, bananas, marine
products, garments
Major trading partners: USA, UK (and
other EU members), Mexico, CARICOM
(Caribbean Community)
Exchange rate: BZ$2.9 to £1
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Belize's Relations with Neighbours
When Guatemala became independent in
1821, it claimed it had inherited the
previous Spanish claim to the Southern
part of Belize. Belize became
self-governing in 1964. From 1975
successive UN resolutions endorsed
Belize's right to self-determination,
independence and territorial integrity.
In 1981 Belize became an independent
state recognised by all nations except
Guatemala. As relations improved
Guatemala recognised Belize as a
sovereign and independent state in
September 1991, though maintaining a
territorial claim on Belize.
Belize and Guatemala have held a series
of meetings under the auspices of the
Organisation of American States (OAS)
in an attempt to resolve the territorial
dispute through peaceful negotiation.
On 8 November 2000, Belize and
Guatemala signed an Agreement on
Confidence Building Measures which
provides a framework for managing
disagreements and preventing incidents
in the Adjacency Zone (Buffer Zone
extending 1 kilometre east and west of
the border line). Subsequent meetings
were held in Miami in January 2001,
and Washington in February which led
to the signing of a Plan of Action for
implementing the CBMs, and a process
for resolving the substantive aspects
of the territorial dispute.
Two OAS sponsored Facilitators, one
each appointed by Belize and
Guatemala, presented comprehensive
recommendations to the Governments
of Belize and Guatemala on 16
September 2002, proposing how the
dispute could be settled and calling for
referendums within 60 days of an
agreement being signed. Both
governments made the proposals public
on 17 September. Although the Belize
government publicly supported the
recommendations, the Guatemalan
government felt it could not.
Dr Denis MacShane, FCO
Parliamentary Under Secretary of
State, attended an OAS ceremony on
30 September in Washington marking
the end of the facilitation process.
Colin Powell, US Secretary of State
and other representatives of the
international community were also
present.
Since then the Governments of Belize
and Guatemala have been working with
the OAS to secure an agreement to
extend the CBMs as well as a process
for maintaining the OAS Facilitators'
recommendations. Both Governments
signed an agreement at the OAS
Headquarters in Washington on 7
February 2003 covering these two
issues.
Belize's Relations with the
International Community
Belize is a member of the
Commonwealth, UN and OAS. It has
strong ties with English-speaking
Caribbean states through its
membership of CARICOM and has
sought to strengthen ties with its
neighbours in Central America through
various regional groupings.
Flags Of The World: Belize, Belice
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