KEY FACTS

Joined Commonwealth: 1981
Population: 324,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 2.3% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 96
Official language: English
Time: GMT minus 6hr
Currency: Belizean dollar (Bz$)

Geography

Area: 22,965 sq km
Coastline: 386 km
Capital: Belmopan

Belize forms part of the Commonwealth Caribbean, and is located in Central America, bordering Mexico to the north and Guatemala.

Main towns:

Main towns: Belmopan (capital, pop. 21,800 in 2010), Belize City (former capital and commercial centre, 68,300), San Ignacio (20,800), Orange Walk (16,900), San Pedro (14,200), Dangriga (12,800), Benque Viejo (9,800), Corozal (9,700) and Punta Gorda (5,600).

Society

KEY FACTS 2012

Population:

324,000 (2012); 45 per cent of people live in urban areas; growth 2.5 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 24 per 1,000 people (40 in 1970); life expectancy 74 years (66 in 1970). Belizeans descend from Mayans, Caribs, and the many groups who came as loggers, settlers, refugees, slaves and imported labour: English, Spanish, Africans and East Indians. According to the 2000 census, the population comprises 49 per cent Mestizos (Maya–Spanish), 25 per cent Creoles (Afro-European), 11 per cent Mayans and six per cent Garifuna (Afro-Carib). There is a small Mennonite farming community who speak a dialect of German, and a fast-growing Chinese community.

Language:

English is the official language, but Spanish is spoken by more than half the population, and English-based Creole is widely understood. Other languages are Maya, Garifuna and Ketchi. Most Belizeans are bilingual and many trilingual.

Education:

Public spending on education was seven per cent of GDP in 2010. There are ten years of compulsory education starting at the age of five. Primary school, which is free of charge, comprises six years and secondary six. Some 91 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2010). The school year starts in September. The University of Belize opened in 1986. Belize also shares in the regional University of the West Indies, which has its main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Galen University at San Ignacio is a private university partnered with the University of Indianapolis in the USA. The female–male ratio for gross enrolment in tertiary education is 1.60:1 (2011).