Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a water boundary with Honduras to the southeast.
Belize is a small Central American nation, located at 17°15' north of the equator and 88°45' west of the Prime Meridian on the Yucatán Peninsula. It borders the Caribbean Sea to the east, with 386 km of coastline. It has a total of 542 km of land borders—Mexico to the north-northwest (272 km) and Guatemala to the south-southwest (266 km). Belize's total size is 22,966 km2 (8,867 sq mi), of which 22,806 km2 (8,805 sq mi) is land and 160 km2 (62 sq mi) is water.
Demographics of the population of Belize include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.
Dangriga, formerly known as Stann Creek Town, is a town in southern Belize, located on the Caribbean coast at the mouth of the North Stann Creek River. It is the capital of Belize's Stann Creek District. Dangriga is served by the Dangriga Airport. Commonly known as the "culture capital of Belize" due to its influence on punta music and other forms of Garifuna culture, Dangriga is the largest settlement in southern Belize.
Belize District is a district of the nation of Belize. Its capital is Belize City.
The music of Belize has a mix of Creole, Mestizo, Garìfuna, Mayan and European influences.
Punta is an Afro-indigenous dance and cultural music of the Garifuna originating prior to their exile to Roatan from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent And The Grenadines. Which is also known as Yurumei. It has African and Arawak elements which are also the characteristics of the Garifuna language. Punta is the best-known traditional dance belonging to the Garifuna community. It is also known as banguity or bunda.
Brukdown is a genre of Belizean music. Its best-known performer and innovator, Wilfred Peters is regarded as a Belizean national icon. The word brukdown may come from broken down calypso, referring to the similarities between brukdown and Trinidadian calypso music; the presence of large numbers of Jamaicans in Belize also led to an influence from mento music.
Belizean Creole is an English-based creole language spoken by the Belizean Creole people. It is closely related to Miskito Coastal Creole, San Andrés-Providencia Creole, and Jamaican Patois.
Belizean Creoles, also known as Kriols, are a Creole ethnic group native to Belize.
Belizeans are people associated with the country of Belize through citizenship or descent. Belize is a multiethnic country with residents of Ethnic groups of Amerindian, African, European, Asian and Middle-eastern descent or mixed race with any combination of those groups.
Mennonites in Belize form different religious bodies and come from different ethnic backgrounds. There are groups of Mennonites living in Belize who are quite traditional and conservative, while others have modernized to various degrees.
Belizean Americans are Americans who are of Belizean ancestry. These ancestors might be from Belize or of its diaspora.
Belizean English is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Belize and by members of the Belizean diaspora.
The Chinese community in Belize consists of descendants of Han Chinese immigrants who were brought to British Honduras as indentured labourers as well as recent immigrants from Mainland China and Taiwan.
Hispanic and Latin American Belizeans are Belizeans of full or partial Hispanic and Latin American descent. Currently, they account for around 52.9% of Belize's population.
Belizean Spanish is the dialect of Spanish spoken in Belize. It is similar to Caribbean Spanish, Andalusian Spanish, and Canarian Spanish. While English is the only official language of Belize, Spanish is the common language of majority (62.8%), wherein 174,000 speak some variety of Spanish as a native language. Belizeans of Guatemalan, Honduran, Mexican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, and even Cuban descent may speak different dialects of Spanish, but since they grow up in Belize, they adopt the local accent.
Cleopatra White was a Belizean nurse, social worker and community leader. She was the second matron of the Black Cross Nurses Association. She was one of the first formally trained nurses in Belize and was the first rural health practitioner in Gales Point and the Manatee River area of Belize. She also organized the first village council in the country, in Gales Point, recognizing the need for managing village affairs, especially in the case of hurricanes. Her model was replicated throughout Belize, and she is credited with the idea for the present village council system. She served in the relief efforts of the 1931 hurricane, Hurricane Janet (1955) and Hurricane Hattie (1961). She received a Victoria Medal in 1953 for her services from the British crown and, in 1958 went to England to accept the British Empire Medal.
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.
Belize