-
-
1700's - Pirates married native women or female captives and their offspring called themselves "Baymen"
-
Battle of St George's Caye - Baymen, Slaves and British warships defeated the Spanish Armada
-
Became the Crown Colony of British Honduras
-
The British granted Belize internal self-rule
-
Hurricane Hattie destroys much of Belize City & the capital was moved to Belmopan
-
Offically changed its name to Belize
-
-
Becomes an ecotourism destination
-
British Army withdraws from Belize, they form their own 500 man army
-
Petroluem was discovered
-
Languages Spoken: Spanish 46%, Creole 32.9%, Mayan dialects 8.9%, English 3.9% (offical), Garifuna 3.4% (Carib), German 3.3%, other 1.6%
-
Demographics: population 321,115, growth rate 2.056%, GDP $1.42 billion,
-
People: just over 1/2 live in rural areas, 1/5 live in Belize city, 1/3 of population is under age of 14
-
Geography - Land mass 22,806 sq km, water 160 sq km, coastline 386 km, lowest elevation Caribbean Sea 0m, highest elevation Doyle's Deligh 1,160 m
-
Terrian is flat, swampy coastal plains with low mountains in the south
-
Ethnic Groups: Mestizo 48.7%, Creole 24.9%, Mayo 10.6%, Garifuna 6.1%, Other 9.7%
-
Natural resources are arable land, timber, fish, hydropower
-
Current environmental issues: deforestation, water pollution, solid & sewage waste
-
Economy: Tourism is number one followed by marine products, citrus, can sugar, bananas and garments
-
Guatamela continues territortial claims to Belize
-
Climate - Tropical monoonal with a brief dry season & pronounced wet season
-
Belize borders Guatemala and Mexico
-
Natural hazards include; frequent hurricanes, and coastal flooding
-
Government: Paliamentary deomcracy with a Commonwealth realm.
-
Current Issues: Large foreign debt, high levels of poverty, growing urban crime, smuggling & human trafficking
-
Inhabitants suddenly migrated to the Yucatan
