Belize

1
Belize

• September 27,2007

2
Geography

• Caribbean coast of Northern Central America
• Mexico to North, Guatemala to West
• Area22,960 sq km (slightly smaller than
  Massachusetts)
• Because of lagoons and swamp areas total land
  mass only 21,400 sq km
• 280 km north to south
• 100 km east to west
• Highest point Victoria Peak (1160 m)
• Lowest point Caribbean Sea

Victoria peak
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Climate

• Tropical climate
• Pronounced wet and dry seasons
• Wide temperature and weather according to region
• Small fluctuation in temperature
• Northern regions get average of 1350 mm of rain
  (approximately 53 in.)
• Southern regions get average of 4500 mm or rain
  (approximately 177 in.)
• South dry season is shorter
• Hurricanes have been very devastating in the past

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Flora

• Belize has one of worlds richest habitats
• Over 4000 flowering plants
• About 700 species of trees
• About 250 species orchids
• Several hundred species of other types of plants
• Some kind of forest cover over 70 of country
• Almost half of primary forest still standing
• National tree mahogany
• National flower Black Orchid
• Mahogany and logger tree important exports
• Many fruit and nut trees among them Cashew,
  Coconut, Guava, Mango, Papaya, Banana and
  Pineapple

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Fauna

• National animal Tapir
• On endangered species list
• 5 species catmost revered is jaguar
• 3 of worlds 8 species of sea turtle are found in
  Belize
• Snakes, lizards and crocodiles also common

http//www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/bairds/pix-liv/t
apir002.htm
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Population

• 294,385 (2007 est.)
• 31/sq mi
• Population growth 2.31
• Ethnic groups
• Mestizo 48.7
• Creole 24.9
• Maya 10.6
• Garifuna 6.1
• Other 9.7
• Religions
• Roman Catholic 49.6
• Protestant 27
• Anglican 5.3
• Methodist 3.5
• Mennonite 4.1
• Seventh Day Adventist 5.2
• Pentecostal 7.4
• Jehovahs Witness 1.5
• None 9.4

• Language
• OfficialEnglish
• Spanish
• Mayan
• Garifuna (Carib)
• Creole
• Literacy (age 15 can read and write)
• Total population 94.1
• Male 94.1
• Female 94.1

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History-1

• Belize held many important Mayan centers
• In 1600s Spanish came to Belize and launched
  several incursions into Belize
• Mayan cities Chetumal and Dzuluinicob
  successfully resisted Spanish domination at first
  and became place of refuge from Spanish
• Refugees brought diseases they had picked up from
  Spanish which devastated population and ended
  resistance
• Spanish missionaries eager to spread Spanish
  control built churches and tried to convert
  Mayans
• Pirates cut off supplies and exports so Spanish
  left Balacar which severed their control over
  Chetumal and Dzuluinicob
• 1696 Spanish used Tipu as base and established
  control in the area once more
• Belize didnt attract many Spanish settlers but
  British colonists got interested in area
• When British started settling Belize, the Mayan
  political center, Dzuluinicob, died

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History-2

• Logwood was thick in Belize and was the main
  source of attraction for British setters
• In 1670 the Godolphin Treaty between Spain and
  England was signed. It stated that England got
  countries and islands in Western Hemisphere they
  already occupied, but the countries were not
  named so coastal area between Yucatan and
  Nicaragua remained an area of conflict
• Spain expelled British settlements in 1717, 1730,
  1754, 1779 but Spanish never settled so British
  always came back
• British and Spanish always in conflict over
  Belize in early history until 1798
• 1738 without sovereign recognition, British
  settlers started electing magistrates annually to
  establish common laws for settlement
• Jamaican governor put Colonel Edward Marcus
  Despard in charge of Belize settling in Bay of
  Honduras
• 1786, Convention of London allowed British
  settlers to cut and export logwood and mahogany
  from Hondu river to Sibun River but forbid any
  fortifications or any form of government or
  development of pantation agriculture

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History-3

• Spain retained sovereignty and reserved right to
  inspect twice a year
• British also agreed to evacuate Mosquito Coast in
  east Nicaragua
• 2000 British and their slaves arrived in Belize
  from Mosquito Coast, strengthening British
  presence
• In 1798 Spain attempted to regain control again.
• British drove them off however and it marked the
  end of Spanish resistance to settling
• Plantation agriculture and self-government grew
  despite both activities being banned
• In late 1700s wealthy settlers controlled
  political economy and claimed 4/5 of land and
  half of slaves, controlled imports and exports,
  wholesale and retail trades, and taxation
• They elected magistrates and granted them
  executive and judicial control
• The royal government had appointed
  superintendents to oversee settlements but they
  had little or no power over the people

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History-4

• Slaves were imported for cutting logwood
• The first record of saves in Belize was in 1724
• By 1824 there were 2300 slaves
• Slaves tried to retain their own culture at first
  but they slowly adapted and created what is now
  Creole culture
• Whites were a minority but by controlling economy
  and first legislature, judicial and
  administrative institutions they maintained their
  hold on the power and wealth
• In the early 1700s the settlers only needed 1 or
  2 slaves to harvest logwood. When the focus
  changed to Mahogany in the 1770s they need much
  more land, money and slaves
• Since the slaves were treated harshly as a
  general rule many of them escaped
• In small communities it was generally easy to
  escape since Belize was still fairly sparsely
  populated
• The owners tried to keep their slaves from free
  Creoles from fear they would induce uprisings

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History-5

• Creole couldnt hold commissions in military or
  act as jurors or magistrates and all economic
  activities were restricted
• They could only vote if they owned more property
  and had inhabited the area longer than the whites
• Because other officials in other colonies started
  expanding Creole rights, the British Colonial
  Office pressured Belize officials to do so also
• July 5, 1831 Colored Subjects of free
  conditions were granted civil rights but it was
  still over a century before blacks were able to
  ascertain them
• In early 1800s Garifuna (descendants of Carib
  and Africans) arrived in settlement
• They had resisted French and British but had been
  defeated
• They were then moved to Bay Islands but had
  gradually migrated to Caribbean coasts of
  Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, and south Belize
• Found jobs cutting Mahogany
• They were viewed by whites as squatters and told
  them they had to get leases from the royal
  government to stay on land so they were removed
  to reservations
• They were not allowed to own land and were
  treated no better than their labor proved useful

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History-6

• The Clayton-Bulwar treaty between the U.S. and
  Britain was signed in 1850
• In it Britain and the U.S. agreed that they would
  both encourage a canal construction across
  Central America but neither of them would attempt
  to colonize any part of Central America
• Britain gave up Bay Islands and Mosquito Coast
  but quickly wrote a constitution for Belize and
  had it ratified
• Belize became British Honduras in 1862
• The government set up in the constitution had an
  18 member Legislative assembly, who each had to
  own property worth at least 400 pounds sterling
  silver, and 3 official members who the
  superintendent appointed
• Voters had to be land owners or rich
• Superintendent had complete authority in
  everything

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History-7

• Because of fighting and oppression in land, many
  Maya refugees settled in Belize
• They were not allowed to own land
• They generally worked cutting logwood and
  mahogany and were underpaid and oppressed
• They started some uprisings in the North but
  British soldiers defeated them eventually and
  many of them moved onto reservations
• Mostly because of military costs of suppressing
  the Mayan rebellions, expenses for new colony
  increased and at the same time the economy
  depressed
• The legislation were unable to agree on how to
  tax to raise money, they resorted to giving
  government control to direct British rule
• A new constitution was ratified in 1871
• The new legislature council had a lieutenant
  governor, who had same power in British Honduras
  as the former superintendents but had more
  influence in London, 5 official members and 4
  appointed members
• The change moved power from settler elites rule
  to Colonial office in London

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History-8

• Despite a growing population, there was still
  much unused, sparsely populated land, mostly
  because a handful of white Europeans still
  controlled the land
• Forestry interests hindered agricultural
  development and kept population dependent on
  imports
• Mahogany and logwood was still 80 of export but
  demand and prices had dropped considerably which
  sent the colony into a prolonged depression
• The results of the depression were
• A decline of old settler class
• An increase in capital consolidation
• Intensified British land ownership
• Concentration and Consolidation meant the control
  of the economy would be entirely in Britains
  hands

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History-9

• All legislative seats were still by appointment
  which meant the governing was done by rich whites
• Creoles requested that a few seats be left open
  for election thus providing some representation
  but the request was denied
• Meanwhile, the mahogany trade was still depressed
  and efforts in plantation agriculture (sugarcane,
  coffee, bananas etc.) failed
• The lack of conservation and reforestation was
  depleting logging resources
• During prohibition some Creoles sold alcohol to
  the U.S. and acquired much wealth while many
  white merchants went bankrupt during the
  depression
• The millionaire Creoles were given some seats in
  the legislature

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History10

• The Great Depression destroyed the economy and
  unemployment was high. Mahogany and Chicle
  harvest was hardly existent and then on top of
  everything a big hurricane demolished Belize Town
• The British government took control and seized
  the opportunity to tighten their grip on Belize
  by giving the governor reserve power for disaster
  aid
• The economy continued declining. Total value of
  imports and exports was about ¼ of what it was in
  1992 (3 years earlier)
• One of the only companies that remained in tact
  was the Belize Estate and Produce Company. The
  owners had contacts and support in London that
  helped them.
• When a Creole millionaire beat ex owner of Belize
  Estate and Produce Company in legislature
  elections, it marked the decline of British
  influence and the rise of Creole entrepreneurs
  with U.S. commercial connections

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History-11

• Finally the poor got fed up with being oppressed
  and they responded with a series of strikes,
  demonstrations, petitions, and riots. That marked
  the beginning of modern politics
• Strikes and petitions led governor to provide
  relief work and pressure on legislature for
  semi-representative government in an effort to
  avoid civil disturbances
• New Constitution in April 1935
• Allowed for 5 electoral seats in legislature but
  high voter-eligibility kept only richest 2 able
  to vote
• 1930s highly transitional period for politics,
  spurred by labor issues and voter eligibility
  expansion
• In 1950 George Cadle Price became a very dominant
  politician
• The event that started his career was the
  devaluation of British Honduras dollar in 1949
• That move helped white elites who traded with the
  British but hindered the Creoles who traded with
  the U.S. It also hurt the poor and laborers
  because most of their food was imported from the
  U.S. so the prices jumped

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History-12

• The unions power was increasing so political
  leaders took over in order to gain their power
  but union declined with increasing dependence on
  politicians in 1950s
• The Peoples United Party (PUP) became the
  leading peoples voice in politics then. They
  pushed for representative and responsible
  government
• Seeing how strong PUP was getting, the Colonial
  administration started attacking
• They succeeded in dissolving a smaller peoples
  voice group and removed the most powerful of
  PUPs leaders which led to Price having an open
  door
• 2 years later (1954) PUP became powerful again
  and Price was the clear leader
• 1954 election issue was colonialism. Voting for
  PUP meant voting for self-government
• That election PUP gained 8 of 9 electoral seats

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History-13

• There were basically only two obstacles to
  British Honduras becoming a free country Britain
  unwilling to relinquish control, and Guatemalan
  conflict over land rights
• In 1961 Britain finally willing to release
  British Honduras but Guatemala still unmoving on
  insistence for land
• Britain slowly let go and in 1973 British
  Honduras changed name to Belize in anticipation
  of independence
• Territory dispute still a problem but Belize
  became a free country anyway in 1981

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Government

• Parliamentary Democracy
• Head of state is Queen of Belize, Elizabeth II of
  United Kingdom who is represented by
  Governor-General
• Prime Minister head of government and leads
  cabinet who act as advisors and exercise
  executive authority
• Cabinet ministers hold electoral seats and part
  of the majority of political party in parliament
• National assembly of Belize is House of
  Representatives and Senate
• House has 29 members elected to maximum 5 year
  term. They introduce legislation dealing with
  Belize development
• Governor-General appoints Senate (12 members)
  They select Senate President and are responsible
  for debating and approving bills passed by house

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Economy

• Belize has one of highest unemployment rates in
  Central America9.4
• 33.5 population in poverty
• Agriculture, agro-based industry, merchandising,
  tourism and construction
• Tourism and construction are more important
• Chief crop is sugar. Make up nearly half of
  exports
• Banana industry largest employer
• Petroleum newly developed industry
• Citrus recently became a major industry
• Major concerns are rapid growth in trade deficit
  and foreign debt

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Main Sources

• http//countrystudies.us
• http//worldfacts.us