Belize was the site of several Mayan city states until their decline at the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and Spanish disputed the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1862. Territorial disputes between the UK and Guatemala delayed the independence of Belize until 1981. Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation until 1992 and the two countries are involved in an ongoing border dispute. Both nations have voted to send the dispute for final resolution to the International Court of Justice. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy. Current concerns include the country’s heavy foreign debt burden, high crime rates, high unemployment combined with a majority youth population, growing involvement in the Mexican and South American drug trade, and one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in Central America.

Economy

The economy is driven by tourism- and agriculture; strong post-pandemic rebound; innovative and ecological bond restructuring that significantly lowered public debt and expanded marine protections; central bank offering USD-denominated treasury notes; high mobility across borders.

Population

The population is 419,137 (2023 est.) which consists of Mestizo 52.9%, Creole 25.9%, Maya 11.3%, Garifuna 6.1%, East Indian 3.9%, Mennonite 3.6%, White 1.2%, Asian 1%, other 1.2%, unknown 0.3% (2010 est.)

Note: percentages add up to more than 100% because respondents were able to identify more than one ethnic origin.

The languages are English 62.9% (official), Spanish 56.6%, Creole 44.6%, Maya 10.5%, German 3.2%, Garifuna 2.9%, other 1.8%, unknown 0.5%; note – shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census (2010 est.)

There are two main Afro-Belizean ethnic groups:

• Belizean Creole people, also called Kriols
• Garifuna, also called Black Caribs

Belizean Creoles, also known as Kriols, are a Creole ethnic group native to Belize.

Belizean Creoles are primarily mixed-raced descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans who were brought to the British Honduras (present-day Belize along the Bay of Honduras) as well as the English and Scottish log cutters, known as the Baymen who trafficked them.  Over the years they have also intermarried with Miskito from Nicaragua, Jamaicans and other Caribbean people, Mestizos, Europeans, Garifunas, Mayas, and Chinese and Indians. The latter were brought to Belize as indentured laborers. Majority of Kriols trace their ancestry to several of the aforementioned groups.

The Belize Kriol language, developed initially by interaction among the Africans and Europeans, was historically spoken only by them. The Creoles constituted the majority of the population until the 1980s and became synonymous with the Belizean national identity. In the 21st century, Creoles are found predominantly in urban areas, such as Belize City, and in most coastal towns and villages.

Until the early 1980s, Belizean Creoles constituted close to 60% of the population of Belize. But, the demographics of the country have changed markedly. Because of the combined effects of immigration to Belize of people from other Central American countries, and emigration of an estimated 85,000 Creoles, most to the United States, in the early 21st century the Creoles make up only about 25% of the population of Belize. As a result of centuries of mixed-race ancestry, persons identifying as Creole express a wide range of physical features, ranging from dark skin and kinky hair, to fair skin and blonde hair, with many gradations in between. The term Creole denotes an ethnic culture rather than any narrow standard of physical appearance.

In Belize, Creole is the standard term for any person of at least partial Black African descent who is not Garinagu, or any person who speaks Kriol as a first or sole language. Thus, immigrants from Africa and the West Indies who have settled in Belize and intermarried with locals may also identify as Creole. The concept of Creole as mixed race has embraced nearly any individual who has Afro-European ancestry combined with any other ethnicity, including Mestizo or Maya.

When the National Kriol Council began standardizing the orthography for Kriol, it decided to promote the spelling Kriol only for the language but to continue to use the spelling Creole to refer to the people in English.

According to local research, the Belizean Creoles descended from unions between polyglot buccaneers and European settlers who developed the logwood trade in the 17th century, and the African slaves whom they kidnapped and used as enslaved laborers to cut and ship the logwood. The National Kriol Council of Belize says that black slaves had been used as workers on the Central American coast from the 16th century and earlier, and were also used by the Spanish further down the coast. By 1724, the British too were acquiring slaves from Jamaica and elsewhere to cut logwood and later mahogany. The earliest reference to African slaves in the British settlement of Belize appeared in a 1724 Spanish missionary’s account, which stated that the British had recently been importing them from Jamaica and Bermuda. The Europeans sexually abused the female slaves, resulting in numerous mixed-race children.

In the second half of the eighteenth century, the slave population hovered around 3,000, making up about three-quarters of the total population.  Most slaves, even if they were brought through West Indian markets, were born in Africa, primarily from Ghana (Ga and Ewe people, Ashanti – Fante), around the Bight of Benin and Bight of Biafra; Nigeria (Yoruba, Igbo, Efik); the Congo, and Angola. Other slaves were taken from the Wolof, Fula, Hausa and Kongo peoples.

The Igbo (known as Eboe or Ibo) seem to have been particularly numerous; one section of Belize Town was still known as Eboe Town in the first half of the 19th century. At first, many slaves maintained African ethnic identifications and cultural practices. Gradually, however, they combined some of their cultures, as well as adapting to elements of European ones; in this process of creolization, their descendants created a new, syncretic Creole culture.

By most accounts, the slaves in Belize led a better life than most in the West Indies, but were still mistreated. Many escaped to neighboring Spanish colonies, or formed small maroon settlements in the forest. These slaves reputedly assisted in the defense of the fledgling settlement for much of the late 18th century, particularly in the 1798 Battle of St. George’s Caye. This history has been debated and generates controversy in Belize.

The Creoles settled where they had work: mainly in Belize Town (now Belize City) and along the banks of the Belize River in the original logwood settlements, including Burrell Boom, Bermudian Landing, Crooked Tree, Gracie Rock, Rancho Dolores, Flowers Bank, and Belmopan. There were also substantial numbers in and around the plantations south of Belize City and Placencia. Many Creoles were involved in the trade in live sea turtles, and other fisheries. During the 19th century, they spread out to all the districts, particularly Dangriga and Monkey River, as the colony grew. Their sense of pride led to occasional clashes with authority, such as the 1894 currency devaluation riots, which foreshadowed greater conflicts to come.

In the 20th century, the Creoles took the lead in organizing development of the settlement. Riots in 1919 and 1934, combined with terrible conditions resulting from a disastrous hurricane in 1931, led to development of Belize’s first trade unions. From that organizing, they developed the first political party, the People’s United Party (PUP). Creoles continue to lead the nation in politics. But conditions in Belize City worsened after another major hurricane in 1961. Shortly thereafter large scale emigration began (and continues) to the United States and England. From those countries, working individuals sent back money to assist families left behind.

Attempts to unite Creoles for development, such as 

the United Black Association for Development, have met mixed results.

Garifunas

In 1797, the British exported between 2,000 and 4,000 Black Caribs – a mixture of Indigenous Caribs and Africans – to the island of Roatán in Honduras, because they rebelled against them on the island St. Vincent. While the British ships that carried to Black Caribes to the island addressed her, the Spanish captured one of the British ships, bringing it to Trujillo, Honduras where the Garifunas were released. In addition, the Spanish captured 1,700 Garifunas on the island of Roatan and they took them to Trujillo where they lacked manpower, the Garifuna people were regarded as skillful for crops, so they went to work and prospered enough in Trujillo, some of these were recruited by the Spanish army where they served with distinction. 

Many Garifunas of Trujillo, especially due to the persecutions to which they were subjected by the Spanish authorities, emigrated and scattered were them along the coasts of all the Central American mainland until Costa Rica (without reaching this place), Later, because of great resentment against the Spanish, others many Garifuna fled to the coast of Belize where already lived other Garifunas. It is this migration that is celebrated annually on November 19 as Garifuna Settlement Day, and is the largest celebration of this community. Some of them were involved in the civil wars of the time.

During the twentieth century, some Garifuna worked on American and British boats during World War II and traveled around the world. As a result of these trips, there are now Garifuna small communities in Los Angeles, New Orleans, and New York City who send monthly remittances to Honduras worth $360,000.

The Garifuna culture is very strong, with great emphasis on music, dance, and history. They have their own religion, the Dugu, consisting of a mixture of Catholicism and African and Caribbean beliefs.

Today the Garifuna in Honduras are struggling not to be deprived of their lands on the coast for tourism enterprises and try to keep their customs and culture at all costs. Garifuna music, Punta (tip), is a very rhythmic music, accompanied by a fast-paced sensual dance with a lot of hip movement. This music has been released recently by bands mostly Hondurans, including the most famous: Kazabe, Garifuna Kids, Banda Blanca, Silver Star, and Los Roland. Especially the song Sopa de Caracol, of Kazabe has popularized this music internationally. Is difficult to determine the exact number of English-speaking black Garifunas because, in the last decades, the ethnic category has not been considered in national population censuses. The Garifunas have formed 47 communities in the departments of Cortes, Atlantida, Bay Islands Colon and Gracias a Dios. April 12 of each year marks the day of Garifuna ethnic recalling his arrival in Honduras.