An Overview of Belize
The Birth, Geography, History and Economy of Belize
Belize is a small-fry English-speaking country in Central America with an attractive barrier reef as well as a surprising number of mahogany trees and Maya temples.
A Small Nation Is Born and Very Nearly Goes Unnoticed
Belize, the only English-speaking country in Latin America, is a baby in its crib compared to its neighbours. Belize was formed out of the scrap parts known as British Honduras in 1973, and, after a delay of several years during which greedy Guatemala made territorial claims, received its full independence in 1981.
The words "small fry" come easily to mind when discussing Belize. The population total is a tad under 300,000, making it the smallest in the region and one of the smallest in the world and in the can-you-hand-me-your-microscope class of Andorra, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, all of which require infrastructure-related assistance from bigger neighbours but, nonetheless, are renowned for their postage stamps.
As for square kilometres, Belize has 22,960 of them (or 8,867 square miles if you are of the non-metric persuasion).
Are There Trees in Belize?
Belize is the right place to go if you like trees, with over 93% of the country packed with tropical trees. Belize also possesses the largest cave system for miles, or rather, countries around.
For the eco-tourist who has everything, Belize is home to the longest living barrier reef--the Belize Barrier Reef-- and, as far as contiguous reefs are concerned, it has one that is second only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
It’s the Belize Economy, Stupid
From the 18th to the 20th centuries, Belize mahogany was all the rage. The forests of Belize were well stocked with it, and it was considered a sought-after, I-have-to-have commodity by shipbuilders and European cabinet makers in particular. But because mahogany was a particularly difficult wood to log, requiring more land, work and money, an elite rich-man group of logging owners came to dominate the ownership of the land and the logging industry in Belize.
During the 19th century plantation-owning settlers in Belize tried to produce sugarcane in hopes of attaining the sort of fat-cat profits seen elsewhere on sugarcane plantations in the Caribbean.
Others dabbled in bananas, coconuts, and cacao -- but, again, without being able to attain the success of their other Caribbean plantation cousins.
Nowadays most of Belize's economy is based on tourism and the notably sexy sectors of agriculture and agro-products manufacturing. The big three amigos of fruit exporting are bananas, citrus, and sugar, with much of that going to the gringos to the north and the tea-and-scone partakers on the British isles.
Those Fabtastic Mayas and What They Got up To
The Maya civilisation descended on the annals of history in Belize between 1500 B.C. to 900 A.D., with 250 A.D. to 900 A.D. being the Belize Maya golden period.
Many of the Mayas were potters, cloth makers, architects, jewelers and farmers. The favoured crops at the time were corn, beans, cocoa, squash, and chile peppers with a tall glass of water on standby.
The Mayas were good at mathematics and astronomy and used a system of writing.
By the middle of the 10th century, however, the Maya civilisation was in a state of steep decline, attributable, perhaps, to climate change and disruptions to their trade patterns. Many migrated to other places, while the rest remained to eventually witness the arrival of European colonists, who wasted little time in announcing that all that the Mayas thought was theirs was in reality not theirs and now belonged to the Europeans.
