Belize

territorial sea:

• 12 nm in the north, 3 nm in the south;
• note - from the mouth of the Sarstoon River to Ranguana Cay, Belize's territorial sea is 3 nm;
• according to Belize's Maritime Areas Act, 1992, the purpose of this limitation is to provide a framework for negotiating a definitive agreement on territorial differences with Guatemala

exclusive economic zone:

200 nm

• tropical;
• very hot and humid;
• rainy season (May to November);
• dry season (February to May)

mean elevation:

173 m

elevation extremes:

0 m lowest point: Caribbean Sea; 1124 highest point: Doyle's Delight

• approximately 25% to 30% of the population lives in the former capital, Belize City;
• over half of the overall population is rural;
• population density is slightly higher in the north and east

• deforestation;
• water pollution, including pollution of Belize's Barrier Reef System, from sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff;
• inability to properly dispose of solid waste

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Belizean(s)

adjective:

Belizean

0-14 years:

33.61% (male 66,207 /female 63,466)

15-24 years:

18.74% (male 37,184 /female 35,127)

25-54 years:

37.43% (male 70,222 /female 74,187)

55-64 years:

5.88% (male 11,397 /female 11,284)

65 years and over:

4.35% (male 8,293 /female 8,487) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

56.8 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

50.9 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

5.9 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

17 (2015 est.)

• approximately 25% to 30% of the population lives in the former capital, Belize City;
• over half of the overall population is rural;
• population density is slightly higher in the north and east

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

25-54 years:

1.03 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

55-64 years:

0.97 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

65 years and over:

0.89 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

total population:

1.03 male(s)/female (2017 est.)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Belize

former:

British Honduras

etymology:

may be named for the Belize River, whose name possibly derives from the Maya word "belix," meaning "muddy-watered"

name:

Belmopan

geographic coordinates:

17 15 N, 88 46 W

time difference:

UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

history:

previous 1954, 1963 (preindependence); latest signed and entered into force 21 September 1981 (2018)

amendments:

• proposed and adopted by two-thirds majority vote by the National Assembly House of Representatives except for amendments relating to rights and freedoms, changes to the Assembly, and to elections and judiciary matters, which require at least three-quarters majority vote by the House;
• both types of amendments require assent by the governor general;
• amended several times, last in 2018 (2018)

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent only:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

highest courts:

• Supreme Court of Judicature (consists of the Court of Appeal with the court president and 3 justices, and the Supreme Court with the chief justice and 2 judges);
• note - in 2010, Belize acceded to the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final court of appeal, replacing that of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London

judge selection and term of office:

• Court of Appeal president and justices appointed by the governor general upon advice of the prime minister after consultation with the National Assembly opposition leader;
• justices' tenures vary by terms of appointment;
• Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the governor-general upon the advice of the prime minister and the National Assembly opposition leader;
• other judges appointed by the governor-general upon the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Section of the Public Services Commission and with the concurrence of the prime minister after consultation with the National Assembly opposition leader;
• judges can be appointed beyond age 65 but must retire by age 75;
• in 2013, the Supreme Court chief justice overturned a constitutional amendment that had restricted Court of Appeal judge appointments to as short as 1 year

subordinate courts:

Magistrate Courts; Family Court

chief of state:

Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Sir Colville Norbert YOUNG, Sr. (since 17 November 1993)

head of government:

Prime Minister Dean Oliver BARROW (since 8 February 2008); Deputy Prime Minister Patrick FABER (since 7 June 2016)

cabinet:

Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among members of the National Assembly

elections/appointments:

• the monarchy is hereditary;
• governor general appointed by the monarch;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor general;
• prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister

• Belize Progressive Party or BPP [Patrick ROGERS] (formed in 2015 from a merger of the People's National Party, elements of the Vision Inspired by the People, and other smaller political groups)
• People's United Party or PUP [Johnny BRICENO]
• United Democratic Party or UDP [Dean Oliver BARROW]
• Vision Inspired by the People or VIP [Hubert ENRIQUEZ]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Francisco Daniel GUTIEREZ (since 21 July 2017)

chancery:

2535 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 332-9636

FAX:

[1] (202) 332-6888

consulate(s) general:

Los Angeles

consulate(s):

Miami

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d’Affaires Keith R. GILGES (since 24 July 2018)

embassy:

4 Floral Park Road, Belmopan City, Cayo District

mailing address:

P.O. Box 497, Belmopan City, Cayo District, Belize

telephone:

[011] (501) 822-4011

FAX:

[011] (501) 822-4012

• royal blue with a narrow red stripe along the top and the bottom edges;
• centered is a large white disk bearing the coat of arms;
• the coat of arms features a shield flanked by two workers in front of a mahogany tree with the related motto SUB UMBRA FLOREO (I Flourish in the Shade) on a scroll at the bottom, all encircled by a green garland of 50 mahogany leaves;
• the colors are those of the two main political parties: blue for the PUP and red for the UDP;
• various elements of the coat of arms - the figures, the tools, the mahogany tree, and the garland of leaves - recall the logging industry that led to British settlement of Belize

note: Belize's flag is the only national flag that depicts human beings; two British overseas territories, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands, also depict humans

name:

Land of the Free

lyrics/music:

Samuel Alfred HAYNES/Selwyn Walford YOUNG

note: adopted 1981; as a Commonwealth country, in addition to the national anthem, "God Save the Queen" serves as the royal anthem (see United Kingdom)

• bananas, cacao, citrus, sugar;
• fish, cultured shrimp;
• lumber

agriculture:

10.2%

industry:

18.1%

services:

71.7% (2007 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA

highest 10%:

NA

• machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods;
• fuels, chemicals, pharmaceuticals;
• food, beverages, tobacco

general assessment:

• govt telecome company, BTL, continues to hold a monopoly in fixed-line services and mobile and broadband fixed-line teledensity;
• small market, underinvestment with lack of competion, yet BTL reports stable telecome revenue for fiscal 2017 (2017)

domestic:

• mobile sector accounting for over 90% of all phone subscriptions;
• 6 per 100 fixed-line;
• mobile-cellular teledensity approaching 65 per 100 persons (2017)

international:

• country code - 501;
• landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US;
• satellite earth station - 8 (Intelsat - 2, unknown - 6);
• mid-2017 completing a submarine cable to Ambergris Caye;
• SEUL submarine cable connecting the mainland with Ambergris Caye completed (2017)

• 8 privately owned TV stations;
• multi-channel cable TV provides access to foreign stations;
• about 25 radio stations broadcasting on roughly 50 different frequencies;
• state-run radio was privatized in 1998 (2009)

number of registered air carriers:

2 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 28 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

935,603 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

2,463,420 mt-km (2015)

total:

2,870 km (2011)

paved:

488 km (2011)

unpaved:

2,382 km (2011)

total:

756 (2017)

by type:

bulk carrier 53, container ship 3, general cargo 373, oil tanker 55, other 272 (2017)

Belize Defense Force (BDF):

• Army, BDF Air Wing;
• Belize Coast Guard;
• Belize Police Department (2017)

• 18 years of age for voluntary military service;
• laws allow for conscription only if volunteers are insufficient;
• conscription has never been implemented;
• volunteers typically outnumber available positions by 3:1;
• initial service obligation 12 years (2012)

Guatemala persists in its territorial claim to approximately half of Belize, but agrees to the Line of Adjacency to keep Guatemalan squatters out of Belize's forested interiorboth countries agreed in April 2012 to hold simultaneous referenda, scheduled for 6 October 2013, to decide whether to refer the dispute to the ICJ for binding resolution, but this vote was suspended indefinitelyBelize and Mexico are working to solve minor border demarcation discrepancies arising from inaccuracies in the 1898 border treaty

current situation:

• Belize is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• the coerced prostitution of women and children by family members has not led to arrests;
• child sex tourism, involving primarily US citizens, is on the rise;
• sex trafficking and forced labor of Belizean and foreign women and LGBT individuals occurs in bars, nightclubs, brothels, and domestic service;
• workers from Central America, Mexico, and Asia may fall victim to forced labor in restaurants, shops, agriculture, and fishing

tier rating:

• Tier 3 – Belize does not comply fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so;
• authorities did not initiate any new trafficking investigations of prosecutions, and cases from previous years remain pending;
• law enforcement efforts to use informal means to identify and refer victims were ineffective and draft procedures for referring victims to services are still not finalized;
• trafficking victims were more commonly arrested, detained, or deported based on immigration violations than provided with assistance;
• the government did not make progress in implementing the 2012-14 anti-trafficking national strategic plan (2015)

• major transshipment point for cocaine;
• small-scale illicit producer of cannabis, primarily for local consumption;
• offshore sector money-laundering activity related to narcotics trafficking and other crimes