Belize Population, Main Cities and Geography

By | January 27, 2023

Belize: population and cities

Population

Population

According to Countryaah website, Belize has around 408,500 residents.

Ethnic groups

Around 50% of the people are mestizos, 21% Creoles, 11% indigenous people (mostly Maya), 5% Garifuna (Black Caribbean Indians), 9% Europeans, Indians and Chinese.

Religions

There is no state religion. Around 50% of the population are Catholics, 27% belong to various Protestant religions. Furthermore, there are around 1% Muslims and around 13% of the population are distributed among other religious communities and 9% have no religious affiliation.

National languages

The official national language is English. But Spanish, Garifuna, Creole and German by the Mennonites are also spoken.

Capital and other cities

The capital of Belize is Belmopan with a population of 20,000. According to Abbreviation Finder, BLZ stands for Belize in English. Click to see other meanings of this 3-letter acronym.

The largest city in the country is Belize City with around 65,000 residents.

Other cities are:

  • Corozal with around 8,000 residents
  • Dangriga with about 9,000 residents
  • Orange Walk with around 13,500 residents
  • San Ignacio with about 17,000 residents
  • Corozal with around 10,000 residents

Belize: geography, map

Belize is located in Central America and in the east of the Yucatán Peninsula. In the west the country borders on Guatemala and in the north on its huge neighbor Mexico. Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Belize.

The east coast of Belize stretches along the Caribbean Sea, where the Barrier Reef and its cayes (= small coral islands) are the second largest coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef off Australia.

Area and boundaries

Belize covers a total area of 22,966 km².

Thereof:

  • ForestAround 90% of the country is an area covered with tropical forests.
  • Meadow and pasture landAround 2% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.
  • Fields and fieldsAround 2% of the land is used as arable land or fields, especially for growing:sugar, bananas, citrus fruits, rice, beans and maize.
  • SavannahThe country has isolated savannah landscapes overgrown with pine trees.
  • SwampThere are isolated swamp landscapes that are often densely overgrown with mangroves.
  • MountainsThe Maya Mountains located inland form a typical low mountain range.

Belize shares a border with a total of two states:

  • Guatemala with a length of around 270 km
  • Mexico with a length of around 250 km.

Provinces

Belize covers an area of 22,966 km² with a population of approximately 356,000. There are a total of 6 provinces in Belize.

Province Surface Population Capital
Belize District 4,307 km² 91,000 Belize City
Cayo District 5,196 km² 69,000 San Ignacio
Corozal District 1,860 km² 36,000 Corozal Town
Orange Walk District 4,636 km² 46,000 Orange Walk Town
Stann Creek District 2,554 km² 31,000 Dangriga
Toledo District 4,413 km² 28,000 Punta Gorda

Coastline

Belize has a seaside coastline of 386 km. Belize has the second largest coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The Belize Barrier Reef has a length of approximately 322 km.

Longitude and latitude

Belize extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):

Δφ = from 15 ° 53 ‘N to 18 ° 39’ N
Δλ = from 87 ° 45 ‘W to 89 ° 15’ W

You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.

Legal time

For Belize, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time without summer time. A minus sign means that it is earlier there and a plus sign that it is later than CET.

Δt (CET) = – 7 h

Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.

The highest point of the sun in Belmopan

Belmopan on Belize is located at a northern latitude of around φ = 17 ° N.

This means that Belmopan is in the tropics. Therefore, the sun is perpendicular there twice a year, around 25 days before June 21st and then again 25 days after June 21st.

Attention

If the image point of the sun is north of Belmopan, the sun moves from east to north to west. At noon, the sun in Belize is in the north at this time of year.

mountains

Doyle’s Delight

The highest mountain in the country is Doyle’s Delight with a height of 1,124 m. The Doyle’s Delight is located in the mountain range of the Maya Mountains in the southwest of the country.

For a long time Victoria Peak was mistakenly considered the highest mountain in the country due to a measurement error.

Rivers

Belize River

The longest river in the country is the Belize River with a length of 290 km. The Belize River drains about a quarter of the country. The river is also known as the “Old River”. The Belize River is navigable by ships up to the border with Guatemala. The Belize River is created by the confluence of the Mopan RIver and Macal Rivers east of the city of San Ingacio and flows from there in a north-easterly direction towards its confluence north of Belize City.

Other rivers in the country are:

  • Rio Hondo, with a length of about 210 km. The Rio Hondo largely forms the border between Belize and Mexico.
  • New River

The caribbean

Belize lies with its eastern border on the coast of the Caribbean.

Belize Population