Belize is located on the eastern coastline of Central America, bordered on the north by Mexico, on the west by Guatemala and the east by the Caribbean Sea. It has the second-largest barrier reef in the world (185 mile long) and three of the four coral atolls in the western hemisphere. The country is approximately 8,866 square miles. The mainland is approximately 180 miles long and up to 68 miles wide. Belize also consists of over 200 caves, ranging in size from a few hundred feet to 25 miles long and four miles wide.
More About Belize
The first English settlers arrived in the early 1600s in present-day Belize (known as the Settlement of Belize in the Bay of Honduras prior to 1862 and British Honduras from 1862-1973). Their arrival marked the beginning of a conflict with neighboring Spanish settlers that lasted for centuries. For the first 200 years, this conflict was part of the larger rivalry between Britain and Spain. In the early 1800s, after most of the Spanish colonies in the New World became independent, the conflict in Belize evolved into a Guatemalan territorial claim on the area that continued into the 1990s. However, in 1975 the first pro-Belize resolution passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations and by 1981, it became an independent country joining the Commonwealth, United Nations and Non-Aligned Movement.
Weather
Belizes weather is characterized by two seasons: a rainy (June to November) and a dry season. The transition from dry to rainy season is very sharp. Annual rainfall ranges from 60 inches in the north to 160 inches in the south. The average temperature varies from 81 degrees F. along the coast to 69 degs. F. in the hills. The coldest month is January and the highest temperatures are experienced during May.
People & Economy
Currency: Belize dollar (one US dollar is equivalent two BZ dollars)
Population: 8,300,463 (July 2001 est.)
Ethnic groups: Quechua 30%, Aymara 25%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, white 15%
Literacy: 83.1%
Religion: Roman Catholic and Protestant
Language: English and Spanish
