North & Central America and Caribbean

Belize
Last reviewed: 23 March 2012

Country information

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Map of Belize

BELIZE TODAY

Country Facts

Area: 22,965 sq km (8,867 square miles)
Population: 312,698 ( Source: 2010 Census
Capital City: Belmopan (population: 13,351, 2010 Census)
People: Mestizos (Maya/Spanish) and Latinos 49-50%, Creole (Afro-Caribbean) 21%, Maya 10%, European, Indian and Chinese 9%, and Garifuna 5%.
Language(s): Officially English; however, around half the population claim Spanish as a first language and Creole is also widely spoken. There are a number of indigenous languages, such as Garifuna, Mopan and Ketchi Mayan.
Religion(s): Predominantly Christian; the Roman Catholic Church is the largest denomination comprising around half the population, but there are also many Protestant and Evangelical churches. Small groups practice Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Bahai.
Currency: Belizean Dollar (BZ$). BZ$2 equates to US$1.
Major political parties: The People's United Party (PUP), United Democratic Party (UDP).
Government: Two-chamber National Assembly. The upper house, the Senate, has 13 members: seven appointed by the Prime Minister, three by the Leader of the Opposition and one each by the National Trade Union Congress of Civil Society, the Belize Council of Churches and the Belize Chamber of Commerce. The lower house, the House of Representatives, has 31 directly-elected members (plus the Speaker) who serve a five-year term. Elections to the lower house were held on 7 March 2012.
Prime Minister: Hon Dean Oliver Barrow
Deputy Prime Minister: Hon Gaspar Vega
Foreign Minister: Hon Wilfred Elrington
Membership of international groupings/organisations: Belize is a member of the United Nations and WTO (World Trade Organisation) and the regional groupings of CARICOM (Caribbean Community and Common Market), SICA (Central American Integration System), OAS (Organisation of American States), Commonwealth, ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific), NAM (Non-Aligned Movement), San Jose Group, Association of Caribbean States (ACS), CDB (Caribbean Development Bank), the World Bank Group, IMF (International Monetary Fund) and IDB (Inter-American Development Bank)

HEALTH

Overall health conditions in Belize compare favourably with neighbouring Central American countries, although they remain poor. The government is the main provider of health services which include the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, a national referral hospital in Belize City, three regional and three district/community hospitals, approximately 40 health centres, 30 health posts and a mental health facility. A major reform of the health sector, including reorganisation of services, infrastructure development and financing is currently underway designed to improve the efficiency, equity and quality of health care services and to promote healthier lifestyles. Services provided by these facilities are complemented by national programmes for maternal and child health, environmental public health and water safety inspection, health promotion education and nutrition, dental health, communicable disease control and HIV/AIDS. The leading causes of death in Belize are heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and road traffic accidents.

HIV/AIDS was first diagnosed in Belize in 1986. Cases increased until 2008, when the number of new cases diagnosed began to decline slightly. UNAIDS estimates there is a 2.1% prevalence rate of HIV in Belize – the third highest in the Caribbean - and that there are approximately 3,600 people living with HIV/AIDS in Belize. In 2000, Belize established a National AIDS Commission to co-ordinate a national multi-sectoral strategy to respond to the challenges of HIV/AIDS. Belize accepted the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Commission Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to “further strengthen activities to prevent the spread of HIV and stigmatisation and discrimination against people living with HIV”.

See UK development Assistance section below for DFID Caribbean programmes for HIV/AIDS.