World > North America > Belize > People (Notes)

Belize - People (Notes)

PEOPLE Belize is the most sparsely populated nation in Central America. It is larger than El Salvador and compares in size to the State of Massachusetts. Slightly more than half of the population lives in rural areas. About one-fourth live in Belize City, the principal port, commercial center, and former capital. Most Belizeans are of multiracial descent. About 48.7% of the population is of mixed Mayan and European descent (Mestizo); 24.9% are of African and Afro-European (Creole) ancestry; about 10.6% are Mayan; and about 6.1% are Afro-Amerindian (Garifuna). The remainder, about 9.7%, includes European, East Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and North American groups. English, the official language, is spoken by virtually all except the refugees who arrived during the past decade. Spanish is the native tongue of about 50% of the people and is spoken as a second language by another 20%. The various Mayan groups still speak their indigenous languages, and an English Creole dialect similar to the Creole dialects of the English-speaking Caribbean Islands is spoken by most. The rate of functional literacy is 76%. About 50% of the population is Roman Catholic; the Anglican Church and other Protestant Christian groups account for most of the remaining 50%. Mennonite settlers number about 8,500.