238 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
238 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
BELIZE
|
||
GEOGRAPHY
|
||
Total area: 22,960 km2; land area: 22,800 km2
|
||
|
||
Comparative area: slightly larger than Massachusetts
|
||
|
||
Land boundaries: 516 km total; Guatemala 266 km, Mexico 250 km
|
||
|
||
Coastline: 386 km
|
||
|
||
Maritime claims:
|
||
|
||
Territorial sea: 3 nm
|
||
|
||
Disputes: claimed by Guatemala, but boundary negotiations to
|
||
resolve dispute are nearing completion
|
||
|
||
Climate: tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to
|
||
February)
|
||
|
||
Terrain: flat, swampy coastal plain; low mountains in south
|
||
|
||
Natural resources: arable land potential, timber, fish
|
||
|
||
Land use: arable land 2%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
|
||
pastures 2%; forest and woodland 44%; other 52%, includes irrigated
|
||
NEGL%
|
||
|
||
Environment: frequent devastating hurricanes (September to
|
||
December) and coastal flooding (especially in south); deforestation
|
||
|
||
Note: national capital moved 80 km inland from Belize City to
|
||
Belmopan because of hurricanes; only country in Central America without a
|
||
coastline on the North Pacific Ocean
|
||
|
||
PEOPLE
|
||
Population: 228,069 (July 1991), growth rate 3.6% (1991)
|
||
|
||
Birth rate: 38 births/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Net migration rate: 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Infant mortality rate: 35 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
|
||
|
||
Life expectancy at birth: male 67 years, female 72 years (1991)
|
||
|
||
Total fertility rate: 4.7 children born/woman (1991)
|
||
|
||
Nationality: noun--Belizean(s); adjective--Belizean
|
||
|
||
Ethnic divisions: Creole 39.7%, Mestizo 33.1%, Maya 9.5%, Garifuna
|
||
7.6%, East Indian 2.1%, other 8.0%
|
||
|
||
Religion: Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 30% (Anglican 12%,
|
||
Methodist 6%, Mennonite 4%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3%, Pentecostal 2%,
|
||
Jehovah's Witnesses 1%, other 2%), none 2%, unknown 3%, other 3%
|
||
(1980)
|
||
|
||
Language: English (official), Spanish, Maya, Garifuna (Carib)
|
||
|
||
Literacy: 91% (male 91%, female 91%) age 15 and over having ever
|
||
attended school (1970)
|
||
|
||
Labor force: 51,500; agriculture 30.0%, services 16.0%, government
|
||
15.4%, commerce 11.2%, manufacturing 10.3%; shortage of skilled
|
||
labor and all types of technical personnel (1985)
|
||
|
||
Organized labor: 12% of labor force; 7 unions currently active
|
||
|
||
GOVERNMENT
|
||
Long-form name: none
|
||
|
||
Type: parliamentary democracy
|
||
|
||
Capital: Belmopan
|
||
|
||
Administrative divisions: 6 districts; Belize, Cayo, Corozal,
|
||
Orange Walk, Stann Creek, Toledo
|
||
|
||
Independence: 21 September 1981 (from UK; formerly British
|
||
Honduras)
|
||
|
||
Constitution: 21 September 1981
|
||
|
||
Legal system: English law
|
||
|
||
National holiday: Independence Day, 21 September
|
||
|
||
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime
|
||
minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet
|
||
|
||
Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly consists of an
|
||
upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
|
||
|
||
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
|
||
|
||
Leaders:
|
||
|
||
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952),
|
||
represented by Governor General Dame Elmira Minita GORDON (since 21
|
||
September 1981);
|
||
|
||
Head of Government--Prime Minister George Cadle PRICE (since 4
|
||
September 1989)
|
||
|
||
Political parties and leaders:
|
||
People's United Party (PUP), George PRICE, Florencio MARIN, Said MUSA;
|
||
United Democratic Party (UDP), Manuel ESQUIVEL, Dean LINDO, Dean BARROW;
|
||
Belize Popular Party (BPP), Louis SYLVESTRE
|
||
|
||
Suffrage: universal at age 18
|
||
|
||
Elections:
|
||
|
||
National Assembly--last held 4 September 1989 (next to be
|
||
held September 1994);
|
||
results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(28 total)
|
||
PUP 15 seats, UDP 13 seats; note--in January 1990 one
|
||
member expelled from UDP joined PUP, making the seat count
|
||
16 PUP, UDP 12
|
||
|
||
Communists: negligible
|
||
|
||
Other political or pressure groups: Society for the Promotion
|
||
of Education and Research (SPEAR) headed by former PUP minister;
|
||
United Workers Front
|
||
|
||
Member of: ACP, C, CARICOM, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, IDA,
|
||
IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, (observer), ITU, LORCS,
|
||
NAM, OAS, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WMO
|
||
|
||
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador James V. HYDE; Chancery at
|
||
Suite 2J, 3400 International Drive NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
|
||
(202) 363-4505;
|
||
|
||
US--Ambassador Eugene L. SCASSA; Embassy at Gabourel Lane and
|
||
Hutson Street, Belize City (mailing address is P. O. Box 286, Belize
|
||
City); telephone 501 77161 through 77163
|
||
|
||
Flag: blue with a narrow red stripe along the top and the bottom
|
||
edges; centered is a large white disk bearing the coat of arms; the coat
|
||
of arms features a shield flanked by two workers in front of a mahogany
|
||
tree with the related motto SUB UMBRA FLOREO (I Flourish in the
|
||
Shade) on a scroll at the bottom, all encircled by a green garland
|
||
ECONOMY
|
||
Overview: The economy is based primarily on agriculture and
|
||
merchandising. Agriculture accounts for more than 30% of GDP and provides
|
||
75% of export earnings, while sugar, the chief crop, accounts for almost
|
||
40% of hard currency earnings. The US, Belize's main trading partner, is
|
||
assisting in efforts to reduce dependency on sugar with an agricultural
|
||
diversification program.
|
||
|
||
GDP: $290 million, per capita $1,320; real growth rate 9% (1990
|
||
est.)
|
||
|
||
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.8% (1990 est.)
|
||
|
||
Unemployment rate: 12% (1988)
|
||
|
||
Budget: revenues $87.4 million; expenditures $130.5 million,
|
||
including capital expenditures of $53.5 million (FY90 est.)
|
||
|
||
Exports: $108 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
|
||
|
||
commodities--sugar, clothing, seafood, molasses, citrus, wood and
|
||
wood products;
|
||
|
||
partners--US 47%, UK, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada (1987)
|
||
|
||
Imports: $204 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
|
||
|
||
commodities--machinery and transportation equipment, food,
|
||
manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals, pharmaceuticals;
|
||
|
||
partners--US 55%, UK, Netherlands Antilles, Mexico (1987)
|
||
|
||
External debt: $169 million (December 1990)
|
||
|
||
Industrial production: growth rate 9.7% (1989); accounts for
|
||
16% of GDP
|
||
|
||
Electricity: 34,700 kW capacity; 90 million kWh produced,
|
||
410 kWh per capita (1990)
|
||
|
||
Industries: garment production, citrus concentrates, sugar
|
||
refining, rum, beverages, tourism
|
||
|
||
Agriculture: accounts for 30% of GDP (including fish and forestry);
|
||
commercial crops include sugarcane, bananas, coca, citrus fruits;
|
||
expanding output of lumber and cultured shrimp; net importer of basic
|
||
foods
|
||
|
||
Illicit drugs: an illicit producer of cannabis for the
|
||
international drug trade; eradication program cut marijuana
|
||
production from 200 metric tons in 1987 to 66 metric tons in 1989;
|
||
transshipment point for cocaine
|
||
|
||
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $104
|
||
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
|
||
(1970-88), $199 million
|
||
|
||
Currency: Belizean dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Belizean dollar
|
||
(Bz$) = 100 cents
|
||
Exchange rates: Belizean dollars (Bz$) per US$1--2.00 (fixed rate)
|
||
|
||
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
|
||
|
||
COMMUNICATIONS
|
||
Highways: 2,710 km total; 500 km paved, 1,600 km gravel, 300 km
|
||
improved earth, and 310 km unimproved earth
|
||
|
||
Inland waterways: 825 km river network used by shallow-draft craft;
|
||
seasonally navigable
|
||
|
||
Ports: Belize City; additional ports for shallow draught craft
|
||
include Corozol, Punta Gorda, Big Creek
|
||
|
||
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
|
||
|
||
Airports: 42 total, 32 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways;
|
||
none with runways over 2,439 m; 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
|
||
|
||
Telecommunications: 8,650 telephones; above-average system based on
|
||
radio relay; stations--6 AM, 5 FM, 1 TV, 1 shortwave; 1 Atlantic Ocean
|
||
INTELSAT earth station
|
||
|
||
DEFENSE FORCES
|
||
Branches: British Forces Belize, Belize Defense Force (including
|
||
Army, Navy, Air Force, and Volunteer Guard), Belize National Police
|
||
|
||
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 53,184; 31,790 fit for military
|
||
service; 2,545 reach military age (18) annually
|
||
|
||
Defense expenditures: $4.8 million, 1.8% of GDP (1990 est.)
|
||
|
||
|