unways 1,220-2,439 m

_#_Telecommunications: excellent domestic and international telephone
and telegraph facilities; 4,720,000 telephones; stations--8 AM, 19 FM (42
relays), 25 TV (10 relays); 5 submarine cables; satellite earth stations
operating in INTELSAT 3 Atlantic Ocean and EUTELSAT systems

_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie

_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,521,178; 2,115,935 fit for
military service; 64,634 reach military age (19) annually

_#_Defense expenditures: $4.8 billion, 2.5% of GDP (1990)
_%_
_@_Belize
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 22,960 km2; land area: 22,800 km2

_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than Massachusetts

_#_Land boundaries: 516 km total; Guatemala 266 km, Mexico 250 km

_#_Coastline: 386 km

_#_Maritime claims:

Territorial sea: 3 nm

_#_Disputes: claimed by Guatemala, but boundary negotiations to
resolve dispute are nearing completion

_#_Climate: tropical; very hot and humid; rainy season (May to
February)

_#_Terrain: flat, swampy coastal plain; low mountains in south

_#_Natural resources: arable land potential, timber, fish

_#_Land use: arable land 2%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 2%; forest and woodland 44%; other 52%, includes irrigated
NEGL%

_#_Environment: frequent devastating hurricanes (September to
December) and coastal flooding (especially in south); deforestation

_#_Note: national capital moved 80 km inland from Belize City to
Belmopan because of hurricanes; only country in Central America without a
coastline on the North Pacific Ocean

_*_People
_#_Population: 228,069 (July 1991), growth rate 3.6% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 38 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 35 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: male 67 years, female 72 years (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 4.7 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Belizean(s); adjective--Belizean

_#_Ethnic divisions: Creole 39.7%, Mestizo 33.1%, Maya 9.5%, Garifuna
7.6%, East Indian 2.1%, other 8.0%

_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 30% (Anglican 12%,
Methodist 6%, Mennonite 4%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3%, Pentecostal 2%,
Jehovah's Witnesses 1%, other 2%), none 2%, unknown 3%, other 3%
(1980)

_#_Language: