Belize

6 Pages 1454 Words

My interviewee is from the country of Belize, Central America. Belize is located on the Caribbean coast of the northern Central America. It shares a border on the north with the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, on the west with the Guatemalan department of Pet’n and on the south with the border of Izabal. To the east in the Caribbean Sea, the second-longest barrier reef in the world, most of its coastline is swampy. The country totals area is slight larger than El Salvador or Massachusetts.
The capital to Belize is called Belmopan. When someone hears about Belize for the first time, they imagine it is somewhere in South America. But in reality, it is in the middle of Central America. For most part, only a small portion of today’s tourist population has been to Belize. Because of this, the Belize’s Barrier Reef, Maya ruins and rain forest are “unspoiled” for all to enjoy. The total population of Belize in 2004 was 272,945 people. Approximately 55.8% of the population is the age bracket of 15-64, 40.6% in the age 0-14 and only 3.5% over age of 65.
Some would say that the first settlers to Belize were the Mayan Indians. Archeologist says that approximately 1 to 2 millions Mayans lived on the coast of Belize. Mayans, dating back to 2000 BC, originally occupied Belize. The Mayan culture flourished until about 900 AD. No one knows for certain what caused the disappearance but some would say it was war, famine, loss of faith, or a series of natural disasters.
The Spanish first laid claim to the areas of Central American during the 16th and 17th centuries. Belize at that time was called the Bay of Honduras. The English Puritan claimed to be the first settlers; they settled in early 1600’s. This began the conflict with Spanish settlers that lasted for centuries. The Spanish continuously tried to expel the British from their territory. They did signed treaties in 1763 and 1786 that allowed the British to contin...