Belize
The Country of the Week
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Belmopan
- Population
- 421,960 (2025 est.)
- Area
- 22,966 sq km
- Government
- parliamentary democracy (National Assembly) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
- Religions
- Roman Catholic 40.1%, Protestant 31.5% (includes Pentecostal 8.4%, Seventh Day Adventist 5.4%, Anglican 4.7%, Mennonite 3.7%, Baptist 3.6%, Methodist 2.9%, Nazarene 2.8%), Jehovah's Witness 1.7%, other 10.5% (includes Baha'i, Buddhist, Hindu, Church of Jesus Christ, Muslim, Rastafarian, Salvation Army), unspecified 0.6%, none 15.5% (2010 est.)
- Ethnic Groups
- Mestizo 52.9%, Creole 25.9%, Maya 11.3%, Garifuna 6.1%, East Indian 3.9%, Mennonite 3.6%, White 1.2%, Asian 1%, other 1.2%, unknown 0.3% (2010 est.)
- Currency
- Belizean dollars (BZD)
- Life Expectancy
- 74.3 years (2024 est.)
- Internet Domain
- .bz
- Climate
- tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to November); dry season (February to May)
- Terrain
- flat, swampy coastal plain; low mountains in south
- Natural Resources
- arable land potential, timber, fish, hydropower
- Major Exports
- raw sugar, bananas, fish, shellfish, refined petroleum (2023)
Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)
Overview
Belize was the site of several Mayan city states until their decline at the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and Spanish disputed the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1862.