Belize ( formerly British Honduras ) is a country located on the north eastern coast of Central America and it is the only country in the area where English is the official language, although Creole and Spanish are more commonly spoken.

In September 2010 the Guatemalan Congress overwhelmingly gave its approval for a referendum to be held to give the people of Guatemala a say in whether or not that country ’ s claim to Belize should be taken to the International Court of Justice for final resolution.

The UNCCD has 194 country Parties: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, the People's Republic of China, Colombia, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d ' Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, European Union, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, The Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, the Republic of Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

The name chosen for the new capital, Belmopan, is derived from the union of two words: " Belize ", the name of the longest river in the country, and " Mopan ," one of the rivers in this area, which empties into the Belize River.

Some ethnic Carib communities remain on the South American mainland, in countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and in the country of Belize.

Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America and the only one without a Pacific coastline.

The Belize Defence Force ( BDF ) is the military of Belize, and is responsible for protecting the sovereignty of the country.

After Belize achieved independence in 1981 the United Kingdom maintained a deterrent force ( British Forces Belize ) in the country to protect it from invasion by Guatemala ( see Guatemalan claim to Belizean territory ).

Formerly known as British Honduras, the British maintained a garrison in Belize well into the 1990s, until Guatemala, which has always claimed sovereignty of the country, signed a treaty recognising Belize's independence.

The Central American country of Belize, another former British colony, also still retains the principle of the Riot Act ; it was last read on 21 January 2005, during the 2005 Belize unrest.

* Belize, WMO and obsolete NATO country code digram ( from former name " British Honduras ")

* Belize, ISO 3166-1 2-letter country code

Even though people like Antonio Soberanis, George Price and Evan X Hyde all lobbied to take their movements outside, and other ethnic groups such as the Garifuna and Mestizos sprang up elsewhere in the country, people looked to Belize Town for guidance.

Still, Mexico was the first nation to recognise Belize as an independent country.

The lawyer's draft treaty proposed giving Guatemala so much control over the newly independent country, including internal security, defence, and external affairs, that Belize would have become more dependent on Guatemala than it was already on Britain.

Cuba, however, was the first Latin country, in December 1975, to support Belize in a UN vote that affirmed Belize's right to self-determination, independence, and territorial integrity.

For years it was the second largest population centre in the country behind Belize City, but in recent years has been surpassed by Orange Walk Town.

Benque Viejo del Carmen ( usually shortened to " Benque ") is a town in the Cayo District in the country of Belize.

The longest river in the country, the Belize River, passes through the district and joins the Caribbean Sea along its coast.

One Southside school that was previously all girls, Sadie Vernon Technical ( Belize Continuation ), integrated recently.

Belize City, due to its bigger size, carries greater representation and importance, with one mayor and ten councillors elected ( previously nine individuals out of which the Mayor was selected ), as opposed to one Mayor and six councillors for Belmopan and the towns.

In the 1990s, the Camel Trophy headed to Siberia and the USSR, followed by Tanzania, Burundi, Guyana, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile ( the " Road to Hell " event ), Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras ( controversially serving 500 out-of-season lobster at a dinner ), Kalimantan ( a thousand miles and 18 rollovers to celebrate the first crossing of the island 100 years previously ) and Mongolia.

Stephens and his traveling companion, architect and draftsman Frederick Catherwood first came across Maya ruins at Copán, having landed in British Honduras ( present-day Belize ).

The United Democratic Party ( UDP ) is one of the two major political parties in Belize, and currently the ruling party, having won the 2008 general elections.

Aside from having the most active Garifuna music scene, especially the field of punta, Belize is also known for brukdown, a popular genre that developed in the mining camps in the interior of the country.

On August 25, Chloe moved ashore in Belize as a weak tropical depression, and dissipated shortly thereafter without ever having caused significant damage or deaths.

The 1980s saw Mexico and Belize eliminate their screwworm problems through the use of SIT, and eradication programs have progressed through all of Central America, with a biological barrier having been established in Panama to prevent reinfestation from the south.

The centre of their activity and the primary point of export was Belize.

Pottery types became uniform among sites found in the areas in Belize Valley around Xunantunich, further evidence of their strong relationships with the “ Stone Woman ” site.

In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, sixth form ( sometimes referred to as Key Stage 5 ) represents the final two years of secondary education, where students ( typically between sixteen and eighteen years of age ) prepare for their A-level ( or equivalent ) examinations.

Some of the landowners were also involved in commerce but their interest differed from the other merchants of Belize Town.

Meanwhile, the Belize Estate and Produce Company drove Mayan villagers from their homes in San Jose and Yalbac in the northwest and treated workers in mahogany camps almost like slaves.

Cacao is grown organically and sold via the Toledo Cacao Growers Association to Green & Black ’ s for their renowned Maya Gold chocolate, as well as to chocolatiers within Belize.

In the 1786 Convention of London, Britain agreed to evacuate English settlers and their slaves from the Mosquito Coast to their colony in Belize, but continued to claim a protectorate over the Miskitos.

Miskito Kings renewed their alliance with Great Britain, and Belize replaced Jamaica as the principal English connection for the kingdom.

The British Army maintains an adventure training establishment on the island, allowing members of the British Forces stationed at the nearby British Army Training and Support Unit Belize ( BATSUB ) and their families a chance to take part in such activities as diving and sailing.

However, rebel leaders in their correspondence with British Honduras ( Belize ) were more often inclined to cite taxation as the immediate cause of the war.

Ethnic Maya of Guatemala, southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, El Salvador, and western Honduras have managed to maintain substantial remnants of their ancient cultural heritage.

Overall, about 80, 000 people evacuated their homes in Belize, including many in Belize City.

In Belize, they call their variation, " Punta ".

Amongst them are small groups ( such as those in Namibia ) and many very large groups ( such as the almost 1 million non-evacuated Germans in Russia and Kazakhstan or the near 500, 000 Germans in Brazil ), groups that have been greatly " folklorised " and almost completely linguistically assimilated ( such as most people of German descent in the USA, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Brazil ), and others, such as the true linguistic minorities ( like the still German-speaking minorities in the USA, Argentina and Brazil, in western Siberia or in Romania and Hungary ); other groups, which are classified as religio-cultural groups rather than ethnic minorities, ( such as the Eastern-Low German speaking Mennonites in Paraguay, Mexico, Belize or in the Altay region of Siberia ) and the groups who maintain their status thanks to strong identification with their ethnicity and their religious sentiment ( such as the groups in Upper Silesia, Poland or in South Jutland in Denmark ).

The Toronto Star reported that Jaffer, then still an MP, accompanied Guergis on an official trip to Belize, according to pictures posted on a Canadian government website ; this was some three months before their October 2008 marriage.

At about 1: 00 pm that Wednesday afternoon, students of the University of Belize, Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, walked out of their campus on College Street in West Landivar and went to rouse students from schools in the area, including St. John's College High School and Junior College, Edward P. Yorke, Nazarene and Pallotti High Schools.

Belize and Honduras are notorious in the Caribbean for their sandfly populations and travel pages frequently warn tourists to bring bug spray containing high concentrations of DEET.

In November 2007 all airlines from Belize lost their permission to land in Guatemala due to Guatemala's upgrade to category 1.