FIGURE 1: RELIEF MAP OF BELIZE 6
STATUS OF CHRISTIANITY COUNTRY PROFILE: BELIZE I. COUNTRY SUMMARY <strong>1980</strong> Located on the Caribbean coast of Central America, the nation of Belize is situated south of the Yucatan Peninsula and is bordered by Mexico on the north, Guatemala on the west and south, and the Caribbean Sea on the east. Belize is not only the smallest nation in Central America in terms of its physical size but also in terms of its population: only about 145,300 in <strong>1980</strong>. The low average annual rate of population increase (1.9%) between 1970 and <strong>1980</strong> is due to the fact that one in eight Belizeans emigrated, mainly to the USA. Although English is the official language of Belize, formally known as British Honduras, an English-based Creole (or Kriol) is widely spoken and is a distinctive part of everyday conversations for most Belizeans, especially in Belize City, the nation’s largest city (about 40,000 inhabitants in <strong>1980</strong>). Also, Spanish is <strong>com</strong>mon and is taught in primary and secondary schools in order to further develop bilingualism. About 80% of the national population in <strong>1980</strong> was multilingual. Spanish is spoken as a mother tongue by the majority of the population (Yucatec Maya and Mestizos) in the Orange Walk and Corozal Districts, north of Belize City, and in the Cayo District in the west (Kekchí, Mopan Maya and Mestizos). In the southern Districts of Stann Creek and Toledo, there are people whose first language is Garifuna or Mopan Maya. [Garinagu is the plural form of the singular word “Garifuna” and is the collective name preferred by the representatives of this population in Belize today.] Several hundred archeological sites in Belize attest to the presence of the ancient Maya civilization in this region, a civilization that flourished for more than a millennium but declined about 900 AD, prior to the Spanish Conquest of Central America in the 16th century. Belize’s modern cultural history clearly demonstrates that the country is a product of immigration. The proportion of foreign-born population in the country has consistently been high. According to the <strong>1980</strong> Census, 11% of the population were foreign-born, over half of which were from Central American countries. About 7,000 other immigrants were from the USA, Canada, United Kingdom of Great Britain (UK), the West Indies, India and other places, or did not list their country of origin. The first European settlers in the region of modern Belize were called Baymen, who settled in the Belize City area in the 1650's. They were mainly English buccaneers and pirates in the Bay of Honduras who were trying to outmaneuver the Spanish rulers in Mexico and Central America. They discovered they could make a living cutting and selling logwood (used to make dye for the wool industry in England), and later mahogany, to their home country. Many of the first Baymen settled on what is now called the Northside of Belize City, where they controlled all affairs of municipal and national government through the Public Meeting. It was the Baymen who established the slavery system in Belize in order to provide a work force for the logwood trade. The imported African slaves, acquired mainly from the British-controlled areas of the Caribbean, were not allowed to own land and had to depend on their slave masters for all their supplies, but they could associate with each other. Before the arrival of 2,207 slaves and freemen (former slaves) from the Miskito Coast (also known as the Mosquito Coast) in 1787, the Baymen of Belize numbered less than 800 and had fewer than 2,600 slaves. Although the British abolished slavery in 1838, the freed slaves were denied land at first (1838-1868), whereas Belizean slave owners received the highest <strong>com</strong>pensation for emancipated territories at over 50 pounds. The 7