BELIZE PEOPLE POPULATION Whilst around 50% are Latino, more than 25% of the population is Creole; descendants of sub-Saharan African slaves who were brought to British Honduras for labour. In addition, Belize is also home to Mayans, East Indians and the Garifuna; people with mixed African and American ancestry who used to live in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent. […]
BELIZE – LAND
BELIZE LAND GEOGRAPHY Belize is a rhombus-shaped country that’s around 23,000 kilometres squared in size. Found on the north-eastern coast of Central America, the country is bordered by Mexico on the north, Guatemala on the west and south, and the Caribbean Sea on the east. The north is mostly flat and is dominated by forests, swampy areas and coastal plains, […]
BELIZE – HISTORY
BELIZE HISTORY PRE-COLUMBIAN The first people known to have inhabited the land now known as Belize were a few scattered bands of hunters and foragers back in 2500BC, with the first Mayans taking over in 1000BC, building impressive cities all over. Amongst these were the powerful cities of Xunantunich, Altun Ha and Caracol. POST-CONQUEST Unlike like what had happened in […]
BELIZE – COUNTRY
BELIZE COUNTRY NAME The name Belize is thought to have two possible meanings, both derived from Mayan words. The first is said to come from the word belixe, meaning muddy water referring to the many swamps and rivers found in the country. The second, perhaps more interestingly, is proposed to have come from “bel itza”, literally translating to “The road […]