Belize (
pronounced
/bəˈliːz/
) is a country in
Central America
. It is the only officially
English
speaking country in the region. A
British
colony
for more than a century, it was known as
British Honduras
until , and became an independent nation in . Belize is a member of the
Caribbean Community
(CARICOM), the Sistema de Integración Centroamericana (SICA), and the
Commonwealth of Nations
. With , square miles (, km²) of territory and , people (Belize CSO, mid year estimate), the population density is the lowest in the Central American region and
one of the lowest in the world
. The country's growth rate is .% ( estimate). It is bordered to the south and west by
Guatemala
, to the north and northwest by
Mexico
and to the east by the
Caribbean Sea
. |