Belize Information

Belize Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Governor General of Belize: Sir Colville Young (1993)

Prime Minister of Belize Said Musa (1998)

Belize Land area: 8.803 miles square (22,800 square kilometers), total area: 8,867 miles square (22,966 square kilometers)

Population (2010 est.) Belize: 314,522 (growth rate: 2.1%), the birth rate: 26.8/1000;

Infant mortality rate: 22.5/1000; life expectancy: 68.2.

The density per square kilometer: 13

Capital of Belize (2003 est.): Belmopan, 8700

Largest city in Belize: Belize City, 52600

Monetary Unit Belize: Belize Dollar

Belize Language: English (official), Spanish, Mayan, Garifuna (Carib), Creole.

Ethnicity / race in Belize: Mestizo 48.7%, 24.9% Creole, Maya 10.6%, Garifuna 6.1%, other 9.7%

Belize Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 27% (Pentecostal 7%, Anglican 5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 5%, Mennonite 4%, Methodist 4%, Jehovah’s Witnesses 2%), none 9% another 14% (2010)

Belize National Holiday: Independence Day, 21 September.

Belize literacy rate: 94% (2003 est.)

Economic Overview of Belize: GDP / PPP (2009 est.): $ 2,485,000,000, per capita $ 8,100.

Real growth rate in Belize is 1.5%.

Belize Inflation: 0.3%.

Belize Unemployment: 8.1% (2006).

Belize’s arable land: 3.05%. Agriculture: bananas, coca, citrus, sugar, fish, cultured shrimp, wood, clothing.

Belize Workforce: 90,000; note: shortage of skilled labor and all kinds of technical personnel, agriculture 27%, industry 18%, services 55% (2010 est.).

Belize industries: The production of garments, food processing, tourism, construction.

Belize’s natural resources: arable land potential, timber, fisheries, hydropower.

Exportations of Belize: $ 395,000,000 f.o.b. (2009 est.): sugar, bananas, citrus, clothing, fish products, molasses, wood.

Belize Imports: $ 616 000 000 f.o.b. (2009 est.): machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, drinks, snuff.

Belize’s main trading partners: U.S., UK, Jamaica, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, China, Japan (2004). Members of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Belize Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 33,300 (2003) mobile cellular: 60,400 (2003).

Belize radio stations: AM 1, FM 12, shortwave 0 (1998).

Belize television stations: 2 (1997).

Belize Internet servers: 2613 (2003).

Belize Internet users: 30,000 (2002).

Belize Transportation: Railways: 0 km.

Belize Roads: total: 2,872 km, paved: 488 km unpaved: 2,384 km (1999 est.).

Belize’s Waterways: 825 km (navigable only by small craft) (2004).

Ports and harbors of Belize: Belize City. Airports: 43 (2004 est.).

Belize International disputes: The Guatemala squatters continue to settle in the tropical forests largely uninhabited region of the border of Belize, the OAS is trying to resolve the conflict.