Editing Belize District

{{Short description|District of Belize}}
{{About|a district of the country of Belize||Belize (disambiguation)}}
{{Primary sources|date=April 2008}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->| name                     = Belize District
| native_name              = 
| native_name_lang         = <!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead -->
| settlement_type          = [[Districts of Belize|District]]
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| nickname                 = 
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| image_map                = Belize in Belize.svg
| mapsize                  = 200px
| map_alt                  = 
| map_caption              = Location of Belize District in Belize
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| coordinates              = {{coord|17|15|N|88|10|W|region:BZ|display=inline,title}}
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| subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name         = {{flag|Belize}}
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| seat_type                = Capital
| seat                     = [[Belize City]]
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| unit_pref                = Metric<!-- or US or UK -->
| area_footnotes           = 
| area_total_km2           = 4204
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| population_footnotes     = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/belize/|title=Belize: Districts, Towns & Villages - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information|website=www.citypopulation.de}}</ref>
| population_total         = 116,914
| population_as_of         = 2024 Estimate
| population_density_km2   = auto
| population_demonym       = [[Belize]]an
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| timezone1                = [[UTC -6]] (Central Standard Time)
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| iso_code                 = BZ-BZ
| website                  = {{URL|http://www.belizedistrict.com}}
| footnotes                = 
| official_name            = District of Belize
}}

'''Belize''' is a [[Districts of Belize|district]] of the nation of [[Belize]]. Its capital is [[Belize City]].

== Geography ==

Most of the Belize District is in the east central mainland of Belize; the Belize District also includes various offshore islands, including [[Ambergris Caye]], [[Caye Caulker]], [[St. George's Caye]], [[Caye Chapel]], [[English Caye]], [[Goff's Caye]], and [[Turneffe Atoll]]. Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker are considered two of the country's primary tourism areas. The longest river in the country, the Belize River, passes through the district and joins the Caribbean Sea along its coast. The Northern River, Sibun River, and Manatee River are also in this District.

=== Settlements ===

[[San Pedro Town]], which is situated on the island of [[Ambergris Caye]], is also in the Belize District. [[Caye Caulker]] and [[St. George's Caye]] are the island villages in this district. [[Maskall]], [[Bomba, Belize|Bomba]], [[Corozalito]], [[Santana, Belize|Santana]], [[Lucky Strike, Belize|Lucky Strike]], [[Rockstone Pond]], [[Boston, Belize|Boston]], [[Crooked Tree, Belize|Crooked Tree]], [[Biscayne, Belize|Biscayne]], [[May Pen, Belize|May Pen]], [[Gardenia, Belize|Gardenia]], [[Grace Bank]], [[Sand Hill, Belize|Sand Hill]], [[Lord's Bank]], [[Ladyville]], [[Burrel Boom]], [[Buttercup, Belize|Buttercup]], [[Scotland Halfmoon]], [[Flowers Bank]], [[Bermudian Landing]], [[Isabella Bank]], [[Double Head Cabbage]], [[Willows Bank]], [[Saint Paul's Bank]], [[Big Falls, Belize|Big Falls]], [[Rancho Dolores, Belize|Rancho Dolores]], [[Hattieville]], [[Freetown Sibun]], [[Gracie Rock]], [[La Democracia, Belize|La Democracia]], and [[Gales Point]] are all mainland villages in the Belize District.  The Crooked Tree and Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuaries, the Belize Zoo (30 miles west of Belize City), as well as the ancient [[Maya civilization|Maya]] ruins of [[Altun Ha]] are all in this district.

== History ==

The Belize District was the area first settled by Europeans. They developed estates along the rivers and creeks; because these waterways were their transportation highways. Many of the estates were referred to as the owner's 'bank'(as in the banks of a river). Therefore, Mr. Lord's estate on the bank of the Belize River became Lord's Bank and Mr. Flowers' home place on this same river became Flowers Bank. Many of these old estates have grown into villages; while other places on our map such as [[Baker, Belize|Baker]], [[Bob Eiley]], [[Bocotora]], Butcher Burns, [[Lime Walk]], [[More Force]], [[Nago Bank]], [[Washing Tree]], [[Cedar Bank]], [[Churchyard, Belize|Churchyard]], [[Egypt, Belize|Egypt]], [[Watters Bank]], and [[White Hill, Belize|White Hill]] are old estates which did not become villages. Some places like [[Davis Bank (Belize)|Davis Bank]] and [[Tropical Park (Belize)|Tropical Park]] have now become parts of larger communities.

== Demographics ==
In 2005 mid-year population estimate to the  Belize District was 87,000 with an estimated number of 69,200 of these living in the two urban areas. [[Belize City]] is by far the large of the two with an estimated population of 60,800. [[San Pedro Town]] has a population of about 8,900. The population of all the villages and outlying communities combined is about 17,800 people.

===Ethnicity===
{| class="wikitable sortable left" style="font-size: 90%;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Ethnicity
|-
! colspan="2|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|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=2025-04-18}}</ref>
|-
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
|-
| [[Belizean Creole people|Creole]] || 42,107 || 48.11% || 64,816 || 57.04% 
|-
| [[Mestizo]] || 26,974 || 30.82% || 37,503 || 33.00%
|-
| [[Garifuna]] || 3,578 || 4.09% || 3,766 || 3.31%
|-
| [[Indo-Caribbean|East Indian]]<br/>[[Hindus|Indian]] || 2,041<br>320 || 2.33%<br>0.36% || 1,715<br>274 || 1.51%<br>0.24%
|-
| [[Europeans|European]]:<br />* British (Anglo-Celtic)<br />* German ([[Mennonites in Belize|Mennonite]])||1,509<br />''1,156<br />353''||1.72%<br />''1.32%<br />0.40''% || 1,272<br>''887<br>385''|| 1.12%<br>''0.78%<br>0.34%''
|-
| [[Qʼeqchiʼ|Qʼeqchi Maya]] || 837 || 0.96% || 959 || 0.84% 
|-
| [[Mopan people|Mopan Maya]] || 627 || 0.71% || 517 || 0.45% 
|-
| [[Chinese people|Chinese/Asian]] || 1,220 || 1.39% || 379 || 0.33%
|-
| Other || 1,475 || 1.68% || 895 || 0.79%
|-
| Not stated || – || – || 1,534 || 1.35%
|-
| Mixed || 6,835 || 7.80% || – || –
|-
| '''Total''' || '''87,523''' || '''100%''' || '''113,630''' || '''100%'''
|}

===Population and housing===
2010 Population and Housing Census has Belize district's total population as 89,247 residents, of this 43,980 are males and 45,267 are females. The total number of households is 27,161 and the average household size is 3.3.

== Political divisions ==
Politically, Belize District contains 13 [[Constituencies of Belize|constituencies]] according to the [[Elections and Boundaries Department]]. 10 of these are in Belize City proper; the remainder are classified as rural.

=== Belize City constituencies ===

[[File:Shyne profile (cropped).jpg|thumb|180px|[[Shyne Barrow]]]]
The 10 constituencies that fall within the city limits of [[Belize City]] are: [[Albert (Belize House constituency)|Albert]], [[Caribbean Shores]], [[Collet (Belize House constituency)|Collet]], [[Fort George (Belize House constituency)|Fort George]], [[Freetown (Belize House constituency)|Freetown]], [[Lake Independence (Belize House constituency)|Lake Independence]], [[Mesopotamia (Belize House constituency)|Mesopotamia]], [[Pickstock (Belize House constituency)|Pickstock]], [[Port Loyola]], and [[Queen's Square (Belize House constituency)|Queen's Square]]. Both Leader of the Opposition [[Shyne|Shyne Barrow]] (Mesopotamia) and former Leader of the Opposition [[Francis Fonseca]] (Freetown) represent Belize City constituencies.

=== Belize Rural North ===
'''[[Belize Rural North]]''' contains the northern half of mainland Belize District, including [[Maskall]], [[Lucky Strike, Belize|Lucky Strike]] and villages in the Belize River Valley and along the Northern Highway, except for Ladyville and Lord's Bank. Its current representative is [[Marconi Leal]] of the [[People's United Party]].

=== Belize Rural Central ===
'''[[Belize Rural Central]]''' is limited to the southern half of mainland Belize District and containing the important villages of [[Ladyville]], Lord's Bank, [[Western Paradise, Belize|Western Paradise]], Hattieville, and Gales Point. As of 2012, the PUP's Dolores Balderamos is area representative.

=== Belize Rural South ===
'''[[Belize Rural South]]''' contains the offshore islands of the Belize District including Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Caye Chapel, St. George's Caye, and the Turneffe Islands. Its main town is [[San Pedro Town|San Pedro]] on Ambergris Caye. The current representative is the UDP's Manuel Heredia. Ambergris Caye is also a pene-exclave, and it is the land that is completely separated through the rest of the district and in the country.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links == 
{{Portal|Belize}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.belizedistrict.com/ BelizeDistrict.com]
* [http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/map.html Belize Maps, Map of Ambergris Caye, Belize and Belizean area]

{{Districts of Belize}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Belize District| ]]
[[Category:Districts of Belize]]
[[Category:Political divisions in Belize]]
[[Category:Government of Belize]]