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conventional long form: none conventional short form: Belize former: British Honduras
Please note - These data have been taken from the CIA
World Factbook and are
used with permission
Country Profile [CIA World Factbook]
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. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy. Current concerns include an unsustainable foreign debt, high unemployment, growing involvement in the South American drug trade, growing urban crime, and increasing incidences of HIV/AIDS.
Disputes
annual ministerial meetings under the OAS-initiated Agreement on the Framework for Negotiations and Confidence Building Measures continue to address Guatemalan land and maritime claims in Belize and Caribbean Sea; the Line of Adjacency created under the 2002 Differendum serves in lieu of the contiguous international boundary to control squatting in the sparsely inhabited rain forests of Belize's border region; Honduras claims Belizean-administered Sapodilla Cays in its constitution but agreed to a joint ecological park under the Differendum
| Location |
Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Mexico |
| Coordinates |
17° 15' N 88° 45' W |
| Capital
| Belmopan |
| Main Cities |
Belize City, Dangriga, Punta Gorda |
| Area |
22966 km2 |
| Boundaries (km) |
516 - Guatemala 266, Mexico 250 |
| Coastline (km) |
386 |
| Timezone (GMT) |
-6 |
| Population |
307,899 (July 2009 est.) (Demographics) |
| Public Holidays |
Independence Day, 21 September (1981) |
| Currency |
Belizean dollar (BZD) |
| GDP |
$2.444 billion (2007 est.) (Economic data) |
| Main Exports |
sugar, bananas, citrus, clothing, fish products, molasses, wood |
| Climate |
tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to November); dry season (February to May) |
| Natural Hazards |
frequent, devastating hurricanes (June to November) and coastal flooding (especially in south) |
| Physical Features |
Maya mountains (1,120 m) in south; flat, swampy coastal plain |
| Environmental Agreements |
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 signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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These data have been taken from the CIA World Factbook and are
used with permission
