Country Profile Belize

Capital: Belmopan
Population: 372.000 (2010 est.)
Currency: Belizean dollar(BZD)                                     
Language:  Spanish, Creole,Mayan dialects,English (official),Garifuna(Carib),German
Time Zone : UTC-6
Government:  Parliamentary democracy
Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)

  • GDP real growth rate :

    • 4.8% (2008 est.)
    • 1.6% (2007 est.) 
    • 5.3% (2006 est.)

  • Main Export Partners(2007):

    • US 28.6%
    • UK 16.3%
    • Thailand 5.8%
    • Cote d'Ivoire 5.4%
    • Finland 4.2%
    • Spain 4%

  • Main Import Partners (2007)

    • US 31.2%
    • Mexico 13.6%
    • Cuba 8.5%
    • Guatemala 8%
    • Russia 4.6%
  • Country Dialing Code: +501
  • Emergency number:  90 from anywhere in Belize and be connected to the police
  • National Airline: Belize Airways Limited (BAL)
  • Voltage:  110/220V

Detailed Country Profile

ECONOMY

GDP real growth rate:

  • 4.8% (2008 est.)
  • 1.6% (2007 est.)
  • 5.3% (2006 est.)

GDP - Composition by sector

  • Agriculture: 29%
  • Industry: 16.9%
  • Services: 54.1% (2008 est.)

Labor force by occupation:

  • Agriculture: 19.5%
  • Industry: 17.9%
  • Services: 61.9% (2005 est.)

Agriculture products:

  • Bananas
  • Cacao
  • Citrus
  • Sugar
  • Fish
  • Cultured shrimp
  • Lumber
  • Garments

Industries:

  • Garment production
  • Food processing
  • Tourism
  • Construction
  • Oil

Exports: $496 million f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Export Commodities

  • Sugar
  • Bananas
  • Citrus
  • Clothing
  • Fish products
  • Molasses
  • Wood

Main Export Partners (2007):

  • US 28.7%
  • UK 16.3%
  • Thailand 5.8%
  • Cote d'Ivoire 5.4%
  • Finland 4.2%
  • Spain 4%

Imports:$718 million f.o.b. (2008 est.)

Main Imports Partners (2007)

Import commodities:

  • Machinery and transport equipment
  • Manufactured goods
  • Fuels
  • Chemicals
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Food
  • Beverages
  • Tobacco

Import partners:

  • US 31.2%
  • Mexico 13.6%
  • Cuba 8.5%
  • Guatemala 8%
  • Russia 4.6% (2007)

Ports and Terminal:

  • Belize City
  • Big Creek

Unemployment rate:8.5% (2007)

GOVERNMENT

Government Type:Parliamentary democracy

Executive Branch:

Chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)

Represented by Governor General Sir Colville YOUNG, Sr. (since 17 November 1993)
Head of government: Prime Minister Dean BARROW (since 8 February 2008); Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar VEGA (since 12 February 2008)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister
Elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister

Legal system:English law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

GEOGRAPHY

Land Boundaries:Total: 516 km

Border countries:

  • Guatemala 266 km
  • Mexico 250 km

Climate:

  • Tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to November)
  • Dry season (February to May)

Terrain:

  • Flat, swampy coastal plain
  • Low mountains in south

Elevation Extremes:

  • Lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
  • Highest point: Doyle's Delight 1,160 m

Natural resources:

  • Arable land potential
  • Timber
  • Fish
  • Hydropower

Environment and international agreement:

Party to:

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate Change
  • Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
  • Desertification
  • Endangered Species
  • Hazardous Wastes
  • Law of the Sea
  • Ozone Layer Protection
  • Ship Pollution
  • Wetlands
  • Whaling

Environment and current issues:

  • Deforestation
  • Water pollution from sewage
  • Industrial effluents
  • Agricultural runoff
  • Solid and sewage waste disposal

PEOPLE

Ethnic groups:

  • Mestizo 48.7%
  • Creole 24.9%
  • Maya 10.6%
  • Garifuna 6.1%
  • Other 9.7%

Languages:

  • 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)

Religion:

  • 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)

HISTORY

Express History

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.

Source: The world factbook www.cia.gov

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