Belize | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Belize borders Mexico on the north, Guatemala on the west, and the Caribbean Sea on the east, with an area of 22,960 square kilometers (8,867 square miles). As of 2003, it had 266,440 inhabitants of diverse ethnicities. Its sociocultural characteristics are more like those of an English-speaking island in the Caribbean rather than those of any of its neighbors in Latin America. Tropical forests are the predominant vegetation in Belize's hot and humid climate; the landscape is flat in the north and a low range of mountains exists in the south.

According to a 2001 estimate, the economy depended on service industries (representing 58% of the gross domestic product [GDP]), agriculture (18%), and other small industries (24%). In 2003 there was some diversification, with tourism and shrimp farming taking on a share of the GDP. As of 2002, the GDP per capita was U.S.$4,900. One 1999 study reported that 33 percent of the population had an income below the poverty line.

The first European settlers were English pirates, who in the seventeenth century started a logwood industry, which proved more profitable than piracy and caused English settlements to grow in the region. In the nineteenth century the colony attracted dispossessed peoples, such as the Garifuna and Maya, who had fled either the Caste War of Yucatan (1847–1901) or the prospect of forced labor in Guatemala. A small-scale legislature began meeting in the early 1800s; in 1854 the British created a formal constitution and officially established the colony of British Honduras in 1862. The early 1900s were a period of political and social change. The emerging black English-speaking middle class began to press for the right to vote, participation in the political process, and tangible political power. Labor disturbances, a reaction to the protection of plantation owners' interests, resulted in the legalization of trade and soon demands were broadened to include political reform.

In 1950 the first political party, the People's United Party (PUP), was formed. Universal suffrage was granted to literate adults in 1954. The United Democratic Party (UDP), founded in 1974 by the merger of the Liberal Party, the National Independence Party, and the People's Development Movement, is Belize's second-largest party. In 1978 the country changed its name from British Honduras to Belize. The final obstacle to independence was Guatemala's unresolved territorial claim of all of Belize. By 1980 no international support for this claim existed, and full independence was granted to the nation in 1981.

Belize is a parliamentary democracy. The head of state is the British monarch, who is represented by a governor-general who has a largely ceremonial role and is not subject to a fixed term of office. The government is led by a prime minister, who is named by the lower house of the bicameral legislature. According to the constitution, political power rests with those who are responsible to the democratically elected House of Representatives, principally the cabinet and the prime minister. Prime ministers since the 1960s have included George Cadle Price of the PUP, who served from 1964 to 1984 and 1989 to 1993; Manuel Esquivel of the UDP, who served from 1984 to 1989 and 1993 to 1998; and Said Wilbert Musa of the PUP, who was elected in 1998.

The constitution has established an independent judiciary and guarantees fundamental human, civil, and political rights. Elections are noted for their regularity, adherence to democratic principles, and absence of violence.

Caribbean Region; Constitutional Monarchy; Parliamentary Systems.

Anzinger, Gunnar. "Belize." Government on the WWW. <http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/b z.html>.

"Belize." In CIA World Factbook. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2005. <http://www.cia.gov/cia/publicat ions/factbook/geos/bh.html>.

Cubola Productions. A History of Belize—Nation in the Making. <http://www.belizenet.com/histor y.html>.

Library of Congress Federal Research Division. Belize—A Country Study. <http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/bz toc.html>.

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