Editing Demographics of Belize (section)

==Ethnic groups==
Most Belizeans are of multiracial descent. About 52.9% are Mestizo, 25.9% are [[Creole peoples|Creole]], 11.3% [[Maya peoples|Maya]], 6.1.% [[Garifuna people|Garifuna]], 3.9% [[Indo-Caribbean|East Indian]],  3.6% [[Mennonites]], 1.2% [[White people|White]], 1% [[Asians|Asian]], 1.2% Other and 0.3% Unknown.<ref name="CIABELIZE">{{citation|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belize/|title=World Factbook CENTRAL AMERICA : BELIZE|work=[[The World Factbook]]|date=July 12, 2018}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

=== Maya ===
Because Belize's original Maya peoples were decimated by disease and wars or fled to Mexico and Guatemala, most of the country's Maya today are descended from other groups. The current Maya population consists mainly of three language groups.

The Yucatec fled to Belize in the late 1840s to escape the [[Caste War]] in [[Yucatán (state)|Yucatán]], [[Mexico]].  Their descendants live in the [[Orange Walk District|Orange Walk]] and [[Corozal District|Corozal]] districts, which border on Mexico. Before the massive migration of Yucatec Maya from Mexico to Belize, a local Yucatec Maya group named the Iciache Maya already inhabited the land. Today most Yucatec Maya work in the sugar cane industry.

In the 1870s-1880s, many [[Q'eqchi' people|Q'eqchi']] fled from Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, where their communal land were seizured for coffee plantations, where they were forced into service. They settled villages in the Toledo district. Living near rivers and streams, they are primarily farmers, though many younger people now work in tourism, and on shrimp, banana and citrus plantations.

The [[Mopan people|Mopan]]s originated in Belize, but most were driven out to [[Guatemala]] after the British displaced Spanish in a struggle that took most of the 18th century.  They returned to Belize in 1886, running from enslavement and taxation in [[Petén (department)|Petén]]. The Cayo district and San Antonio in the Toledo district are their homes now.

Q'eqchi' and Mopan have intermarried, though the two languages remain distinct and mutually unintelligible. Mopan and Yucatec are mutually intelligible.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|+Population of Belize according to ethnic group<ref name="UN Demographic Yearbooks">[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm#2001 UN Demographic Yearbooks]</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.statisticsbelize.org.bz/dms20uc/dynamicdata/docs/20110505004542_2.pdf
 |title=Archived copy
 |access-date=2012-06-07
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812062733/http://www.statisticsbelize.org.bz/dms20uc/dynamicdata/docs/20110505004542_2.pdf
 |archive-date=2011-08-12
}}
</ref>
|-bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! width="200pt" rowspan="2" | Ethnic<br />group
! colspan="2" | Census 1946|| colspan="2" | Census 1991|| colspan="2" | Census 2000<ref name="2000 Belize Census"/>|| colspan="2"| Census 2010<ref>{{Cite web |title=Main results of 2010 population and housing census |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812062733/http://www.statisticsbelize.org.bz/dms20uc/dynamicdata/docs/20110505004542_2.pdf#page=5}}</ref>|| colspan="2" |Census 2022<ref name="2022 Belize Census">{{cite web |url=https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fsib.org.bz%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2FCensus2022_GeneralCharacteristics.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK |title=Census 2022 |access-date=2025-02-19}}</ref>
|-bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
! Number || % || Number || % || Number || % || Number || % || Number || %
|-
|align=left|[[Q'eqchi' people|Q'eqchi' Maya]]||rowspan="3"| 10,030||rowspan="3"|16.9||7,954||4.3||12,366||5.3||17,409||5.8 ||26,230||6.6
|-
|align=left|[[Mopan people|Mopan Maya]]||6,770||3.7||8,980||3.9||10,557||3.5||15,932||4.0
|-
|align=left|[[Yucatec|Yucatec/other Maya]]||5,686||3.1||3,155||1.4||2,141||0.7||2,160||0.5
|-
|align=left|[[Mestizo]]||18,360||31.0||80,477||43.6||113,045||48.7||150,921||49.7||205,646||51.7
|-
|align=left|[[Belizean Creole people|Creole]] ||rowspan="2"|22,693||rowspan="2"|38.3||rowspan="2"|55,051||rowspan="2"|29.8||57,859||24.9||63,057||20.8||100,111||25.2
|-
|align=left|Black African||582||0.3||1,151||0.4 || ||
|-
|align=left|[[Europeans]]<br />* German ([[Mennonites in Belize|Mennonite]])<br />* British (Anglo-Celtic)||2,329<br /> <br /> ||3.9<br /><br /> ||7,257<br />5,763<br />1,494||3.9<br />3.1<br />0.8||10,034<br />8,276<br />1,758||4.3<br />3.6<br />0.8||13,964<br />10,865<br />3,099||4.6<br />3.6<br />1.0||18,154<br />15,249<br />2,905||4.6<br />3.8<br />0.7
|-
|align=left|[[Garifuna people|Garifuna]]||4,112||6.9||12,274||6.6||14,061||6.1||13,985||4.6||15,845||4.0
|-
|align=left|[[Indo-Caribbean|East Indian]]/Hindu||1,366||2.3||6,455||3.5||6,868||3.0||7,073||2.3||6,712||1.7
|-
|align=left|[[Chinese people|Chinese/Asians]]||50||0.1||747||0.4||1,716||0.7||2,823||0.9||1,344||0.3
|-
|align=left|Mixed|| || || || || || ||18,947||6.2 || ||
|-
|align=left|[[Lebanese people|Syrian/Lebanese]]||128||0.2||167||0.1|| || ||240||0.1 || ||
|-
|align=left|Other|| || ||1,867||1.0||2,610||1.1||762||0.3 || 2,263||0.6
|-
|align=left|Unknown||152||0.3||17||0.0||835||0.4||392||0.1 || 3,086||0.8
|-
|align=left|Total||colspan=2|59,220||colspan=2|184,722||colspan=2|232,111||colspan=2|303,422|| colspan="2" |397,483
|}