Tag Archives: Study in Belize

State of Central America (22,965 km²). Capital: Belmopan. Administrative division: districts (6). Population: 333,200 (2009 estimate). Language: English (official), Creole-English, Spanish. Religion: Catholics 49.6%, Protestants 26.5%, non-religious / atheists 9.4%, Anglicans 5.3%, others 9.2%. Currency unit: Belize dollar (100 cents). Human Development Index: 0.772 (93rd place). Borders: Mexico (N), Antillean Sea (E), Guatemala (S and W). Member of: Commonwealth, CSM, OAS, UN and WTO, EU associate. According to COUNTRYAAH, Belize is a nation in North America, the capital city of which is Belmopan. The latest population of Belize is 397,639. TRANSPORTHINT: Lists and descriptions of main religions and beliefs in Belize, including religion demographics and statistics on Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc.
History
Belize originally belonged to the Maya core area (around the 9th century). In the first half of the 17th century, English loggers settled on the now uninhabited coast of Belize, whose right of presence for the purpose of logging was recognized by Spain in the Peace of Paris (1763). In the period that followed, the Spaniards made several attempts to drive the British out; The climax was the naval battle near the island of Saint George’s Cay (in front of the city of Belize) on September 10, 1798, from which the British emerged victorious. In 1859 Guatemala recognized British sovereignty and the current border. The agreed road connection between the two countries was not built, from which Guatemala deduces the nullity of the treaty of 1859 and the claim to the entire national territory of Belize. In 1862 Great Britain declared the area a crown colony (British Honduras), placed it under its own governor in 1884 and granted it internal autonomy in 1964. Based on the People’s United Party (PUP), George Price (* 1919, † 2011) took over the government of the colony as Prime Minister in 1964, which renamed itself to Belize in 1973 and joined the Caribbean community CARICOM in 1974. On September 21, 1981, Belize gained state independence. The United Democratic Party (UDP) and PUP have since replaced each other in government responsibility. The PUP ruled from 1998–2008, during which time the Prime Minister was Said W. Musa (* 1944). The 2008, 2012 and 2015 elections were won by UDP; Prime Minister has been D. O. Barrow since 2008. The territorial claims of Guatemala persist despite diplomatic relations between the two countries (since 1993).