San Pedro is a town on the southern part of the island of Ambergris Caye in the Belize District of the nation of Belize, in Central America. According to the 2015 mid-year estimates, the town has a population of about 16,444. It is the second-largest town in the Belize District and largest in the Belize Rural South constituency. The once sleepy fishing village was granted the status of a town in 1984.
Ambergris Caye, is the largest island of Belize, located northeast of the country's mainland, in the Caribbean Sea. It is about 40 kilometres (25 mi) long from north to south, and about 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) wide. Many parts of the island have been modified by human development since the arrival of coconut plantations in the 17th century, but it remains largely white coral sand with mangrove forest at its center. Its eastern coast runs parallel to the northernmost stretch of the Belize Barrier Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Leroy Young,, otherwise known as "The Grandmaster", is a Belizean dub poet.
Kalilah Antonette Enríquez is a Belizean journalist and poet. She currently resides in Kingston, Jamaica, where she co-hosts the popular current affairs radio programme, Nationwide This Morning on Nationwide News Network.
Corinth Irene Morter-Lewis is a Belizean educator and poet. She has served as the President of the University of Belize and as President of the Governing Board of International Institute of UNESCO for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Belize–Mexico border is an international border between Belize and Mexico. It is 250 km (160 mi) long and almost exclusively follows the course of the Hondo River. It separates Belize from the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.
Tek It or Leave It was a Belizean game show modeled after Deal or No Deal. The show was pre-recorded every Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. and it aired the following Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. on Channel 5. It was first recorded on November 26, 2008, and first aired on December 2, 2008. The show ran for one season over 13 weeks. It was hosted by Angela Gegg, a well known Belizean artist. The last episode aired on February 17, 2009.
Janet Patricia Gibson is a biologist and zoologist from Belize. She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1990 for her efforts on conservation of the marine ecosystems along the Belizean coast, in particular the barrier reef system. The Belize Barrier Reef was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1996, through efforts of Gibson and others. She is the current director of the Belize Wildlife Conservation Society.
Sir Barry Manfield Bowen was a Belizean bottling magnate and entrepreneur. His business interests included Bowen and Bowen, Ltd, which was founded by his father, and is the exclusive bottler of Coca-Cola products in Belize, as well as the Belize Brewing Company, which brews Belikin Beer. Bowen also served as a former member of the Senate of Belize and the financier of the People's United Party. In December 2007, Queen Elizabeth II knighted Bowen as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George.
Yasser Musa is a Belizean visual artist, teacher, poet and publisher.
The extensive trade networks of the Ancient Maya contributed largely to the success of their civilization spanning three millennia. Maya royal control and the wide distribution of foreign and domestic commodities for both population sustenance and social affluence are hallmarks of the Maya visible throughout much of the iconography found in the archaeological record. In particular, moderately long-distance trade of foreign commodities from the Caribbean and Gulf Coasts provided the larger inland Maya cities with the resources they needed to sustain settled population levels in the several thousands. Though the ruling class essentially controlled the trade economy, a middle merchant class supervised import and export from cities and trade ports. Not much is known of the Maya merchant class; however, merchants of royal lineage are sometimes represented in the iconography. Notably, a canoe paddle often accompanies the royal merchant depictions, signifying their association with marine resources.
In Belizean and Honduran folklore, the Sisimito is a bipedal upright gorilla-like creature that possesses a head much like a human, with long hair or fur covering its body. It is also referred to as "the Mexican Bigfoot", though it is also known in the neighboring countries of Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Rosita Baltazar was a Belizean choreographer, dancer, dance instructor and founding assistant director of the Belize National Dance Company. In 2004, she was awarded the Lord Rhaburn Music Award as a dance ambassador and in 2009 she received the Chatoyer Recognition Award from the National Garifuna Council of Belize for her efforts at preserving Garifuna culture.
The use of cannabis in Belize is common and largely tolerated; however, possession can result in fines or imprisonment. Possession or use of 10 grams or less on private premises was decriminalized in November 2017.
Marie Sharp is a Belizean entrepreneur most recognized for her internationally known habanero-based pepper sauces. Prior to opening her own firm, she worked as a teacher and as an executive secretary for the Citrus Company of Belize. Since 1981, she has been producing pepper sauce and in 2016 was inducted into the Hot Sauce Hall of Fame. She is the founder and owner of Marie Sharp's Fine Foods Ltd.
Elizabeth Graham is a professor of Mesoamerican Archaeology at UCL. She has worked, for decades, on the Maya civilization, both in prehispanic and colonial times, specifically in Belize. She has recently turned her attention to Maya Dark Earths, and conducts pioneering work in the maya region as dark earths have mostly been studied in the Amazonia. She particularly focuses on how human occupation influences soil formation and production.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Belize is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Belize on 23 March 2020.
Myrna Kaye Manzanares MBE was a Belizean writer and activist, considered an ambassador of Belizean Creole culture. She worked to preserve this culture, particularly the Creole language, and advocated for racial justice both in Belize and among its diaspora.
Payal Ghanwani is a Belizean attorney who served as a Senator from 10 March 2020 to 11 December 2020. She is the first Indo-Belizean Senator.
Destiny Evelyn Wagner is a Belizean author, TV host, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Earth 2021. She is the first Belizean to win the Miss Earth title and the first to win one of the Big Four international beauty pageants.
