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 branch: Supreme Court

Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by
Governor General Dame Elmira Minita GORDON (since 21 September 1981);

Head of Government--Prime Minister George Cadle PRICE (since 4
September 1989)

Political parties and leaders: People's United Party (PUP),
George Price, Florencio Marin, Said Musa; United Democratic Party (UDP),
Manuel Esquivel, Curl Thompson, Dean Barrow; Belize Popular Party
(BPP), Louis Sylvestre

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections:
National Assembly--last held 4 September 1989 (next to be
held September 1994);
results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(28 total)
PUP 15 seats, UDP 13 seats; note--in January 1990 one
member expelled from UDP joined PUP, making the seat count
16 PUP, UDP 12

Communists: negligible

Other political or pressure groups: Society for the Pro