Communist countries 3% (1988)
External debt: $27.5 billion (1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 6.4% (1988)
Electricity: 17,325,000 kW capacity; 62,780 million kWh produced, 6,350 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: engineering and metal products, processed food and beverages, chemicals, basic metals, textiles, glass, petroleum, coal
Agriculture: accounts for 2% of GDP; emphasis on livestock production—beef, veal, pork, milk; major crops are sugar beets, fresh vegetables, fruits, grain, and tobacco; net importer of farm products
Aid: donor—ODA and OOF commitments (1970–87), $4.3 billion
Currency: Belgian franc (plural—francs); 1 Belgian franc (BF) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: Belgian francs (BF) per US$1—35.468 (January 1990), 39.404 (1989), 36.768 (1988), 37.334 (1987), 44.672 (1986), 59.378 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: Belgian National Railways (SNCB) operates 3,667 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, government owned; 2,563 km double track; 1,978 km electrified; 191 km 1.000-meter gauge, government owned and operated
Highways: 103,396 km total; 1,317 km limited access, divided autoroute; 11,717 km national highway; 1,362 km provincial road; about 38,000 km paved and 51,000 km unpaved rural roads
Inland waterways: 2,043 km (1,528 km in regular commercial use)
Ports: Antwerp, Brugge, Gent, Oostende, Zeebrugge, 1 secondary, and 1 minor maritime; 11 inland
Merchant marine: 67 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,854,898 GRT/3,071,637 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 10 cargo, 6 roll-on/roll-off, 6 container, 7 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 6 liquefied gas, 3 combination ore/oil, 9 chemical tanker, 13 bulk, 6 combination bulk
Pipelines: refined products 1,167 km; crude 161 km; natural gas 3,300 km
Civil air: 47 major transport aircraft
Airports: 42 total, 42 usable; 24 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 14 with runways 2,440–3,659 m; 3 with runways 1,220–2,439 m
Telecommunications: excellent domestic and international telephone and telegraph facilities; 4,560,000 telephones; stations—8 AM, 19 FM (41 relays), 25 TV (10 relays); 5 submarine cables; satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT 3 Atlantic Ocean and EUTELSAT systems
- Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military manpower: males 15–49, 2,512,681; 2,114,701 fit for military service; 66,758 reach military age (19) annually
Defense expenditures: 2.7% of GDP, or $3.7 billion (1989 est.)
——————————————————————————
Country: Belize
- Geography
Total area: 22,960 km2; land area: 22,800 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Massachusetts
Land boundaries: 516 km total; Guatemala 266 km, Mexico 250 km
Coastline: 386 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea: 3 nm
Disputes: claimed by Guatemala, but boundary negotiations are under way
Climate: tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to February)
Terrain: flat, swampy coastal plain; low mountains in south
Natural resources: arable land potential, timber, fish
Land use: 2% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 2% meadows and pastures; 44% forest and woodland; 52% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: frequent devastating hurricanes (September to December) and coastal flooding (especially in south); deforestation
Note: national capital moved 80 km inland from Belize City to Belmopan because of hurricanes; only country in Central America without a coastline on the North Pacific Ocean
- People
Population: 219,737 (July 1990), growth rate 3.7% (1990)
Birth rate: 38 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 4 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 35 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 67 years male, 72 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 4.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Belizean(s); adjective—Belizean
Ethnic divisions: 39.7% Creole, 33.1% Mestizo, 9.5% Maya, 7.6%
Garifuna, 2.1% East Indian, 8.0% other
Religion: 60% Roman Catholic; 40% Protestant (Anglican, Seventh-Day
Adventist, Methodist, Baptist, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mennonite)
Language: English (official), Spanish, Maya, Garifuna (Carib)
Literacy: 93% (est.)
Labor force: 51,500; 30.0% agriculture, 16.0% services, 15.4% government, 11.2% commerce, 10.3% manufacturing; shortage of skilled labor and all types of technical personnel (1985)
Organized labor: 30% of labor force; 11 unions currently active
- Government
Long-form name: none
Type: parliamentary
Capital: Belmopan
Administrative divisions: 6 districts; Belize, Cayo, Corozal,
Orange Walk, Stann Creek, Toledo
Independence: 21 September 1981 (from UK; formerly British Honduras)
Constitution: 21 September 1981
Legal system: English law
National holiday: Independence Day, 21 September
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
Judicial
