-Taken from the Belize Peace Corps Welcome Book
History
A thousand years before the first Europeans set foot in Central America, the Maya people had established an empire that extended throughout parts of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize. Their agriculturally based society was distinguished by a high level of scientific and cultural achievements. The Maya built roads, devised an accurate calendar, developed a system of mathematics based on the concept of zero, and created a form of hieroglyphic writing. Their impressive art and architecture are still in evidence throughout Belize. By the beginning of the 10th century, however, the great temples of the Maya civilization were covered by jungle, a downfall that is shrouded in mystery.
The first European contact with Belize was in 1501, when Christopher Columbus sailed along its coast. While Belize lay out of the way of the great Spanish silver routes, sailors landed there in search of water and shelter. Spanish ships were constantly harassed by French, Dutch, and English buccaneers in the scramble for New World colonial possessions. A growing market for dye-producing logwood encouraged the English to settle in the area in the late 1600s. The trade in logwood was gradually surpassed by the trade in mahogany.
England sent its first official representative to Belize in the late 18th century. Belize, however, did not formally become the colony of British Honduras until 1840. It became a crown colony in 1862, with a governor and a council appointed by British authorities. Full self-government under a ministerial system was granted in 1962.
An interesting footnote in the history of Belize is neighboring Guatemala’s claim over the country. When Guatemala gained independence from Spain in 1821, it asserted that it inherited Spain’s sovereignty over part of Belize.
This soon-forgotten issue was brought up again in 1859 when Guatemala and Great Britain attempted to set the boundaries of Belize. The issue of Guatemala’s “lost province” was then put aside again until the 1940s when Guatemala included in its constitution a provision for recovering the territory. The provision failed because of international tribunals declaring the issue moot. Since then, boundary disputes between the two countries have periodically resurfaced.
British Honduras was renamed Belize in 1972, and on September 21, 1981, Great Britain granted Belize full independence. The country moved quickly to become a member of the United Nations and applied for membership in the Organization of American States. Belize opted to remain a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Government
Belize’s executive branch consists of a prime minister (who is the leader of the majority party), 15 ministers, and two deputy ministers (who are selected from members of the National Assembly by the prime minister). Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state. She is represented by a governor general nominated by the Belize government.
Each ministry is structured along the traditional British model. Day-to-day administrative and directive functions are exercised by chief executive officers (CEOs), normally career civil service officers, but selected by the party in government. Under the CEOs are career civil service officers who serve as heads of various departments and subdivisions of the ministries.
The central government is located in the capital of Belize: Belmopan. The ministries carry out their activities through separate offices located in Belmopan and in the principal towns of the six administrative districts (Corozal, Belize, Cayo, Orange Walk, Stann Creek, and Toledo).
Economy
Two things stand out about Belize’s economy: its precarious dependence on external resources and its small size. As a British colony, the country became accustomed to importing virtually everything it consumed. Although Belize now has its own small industrial sector and food production system, it still relies heavily on imports and, as a result, has an annual trade deficit of about $50 million.
The agricultural economy was first dominated by logwood, then mahogany, and finally sugar. In the 1970s sugar became the undisputed king in Belize, accounting for 60 percent of the country’s exports. Today, tourism is a key driver of Belize’s economy and of foreign exchange earnings. Belize’s export economy is primarily agriculturally based. Agriculture still employs over one-third of the labor force, primarily in sugar cane, citrus, fisheries, and bananas. Belize is the home to a small number of private manufacturing enterprises, but it depends on imports for most manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, and beverages. Belize’s GDP had a growth rate of 3.5 percent with an inflation rate of 3 percent.
People and Culture
The population of Belize is nearing 300,000, which makes it the least densely populated country in Central America. Belize is characterized by a remarkably diverse society: Mestizos (people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry) constitute about 53 percent of the population, Creoles 25 percent, Mayas 10 percent, Garifuna 7 percent, and others, 4 percent, including Chinese, Taiwanese, East Indian, and Mennonite populations.
The country has seen a large and significant population shift in the last 20 years. In 1980, Creoles (who primarily speak an English-based language) made up 40 percent of the population. Now, the largest ethnic group is Mestizo (who tend to speak Spanish as a first language).
English remains the official language. Spanish is becoming more widely spoken as the Mestizo population increases. The Garifuna and several Maya communities speak their own languages and Mennonite settlements in Cayo and Orange Walk speak Low German. Creole is fast becoming the language common to all.
Belizean Creoles are, for the most part, descendants of slaves bought or captured in Africa and the West Indies. Two-thirds of them live in Belize City. The Mestizo population is largely concentrated in the north and west. The Garifuna (runaway slaves who mixed with the native islanders of St. Vincent in the 17th and 18th centuries) live in all parts of Belize, but several coastal communities are primarily Garifuna settlements.
Maya communities are found in northern, west-central, and southern Belize.
Environment
Belize is one of the world's most biologically diverse nations and the integrity of many of its natural resources is still very much intact. Ninety-three percent of its land is under forest cover. It has the largest coral reef in the western hemisphere, the largest cave system in Central America, over 500 species of
birds, thousands of Maya archaeological temples, and the only jaguar reserve in the world. With only 8,867 square miles and less than 300,000 people, the population density is the lowest in the Central American region and one of the lowest in the world. Environmental issues facing Belize include water pollution, waste disposal, deforestation, and mainstream tourism, which have slowly been encroaching upon and/or negatively affecting Belize’s coast, marine life, cayes, forests, and mountains.
