什麼是貝里斯

西班牙語作Belice

舊稱英屬宏都拉斯（British Honduras, 1840～1973）

中美洲國家。與墨西哥、瓜地馬拉為鄰，濱臨加勒比海。面積22,965平方公里。人口約247,000（2001）。首都︰貝爾莫潘。居民大多是各種族的混血種：克里奧爾人（歐洲和非洲人的混血種）、馬雅印第安人、梅斯蒂索人（馬雅和歐洲人的混血種）和加勒比黑人。語言︰英語（官方語）、克里奧爾語和西班牙語。宗教：天主教、循道宗和安立甘宗。貨幣︰貝里斯元（BZ$）。境內多山、沼澤和熱帶叢林。北半部包括由貝里斯河和洪多河等河流形成的沼澤低地，洪多河在北部形成與墨西哥的邊界線。南半部多山，包括了全國最高點維多利亞峯，海拔1,122公尺。該國近海處有世界上第二大堡礁。貝里斯相當繁榮，屬於開發中自由市場經濟（政府部分參與）。為君主立憲國家，兩院制。國家元首是總督（代表英國君主），政府首腦為總理。

馬雅人在西元前300～西元900年就已定居於此，其舉行宗教儀式中心的廢墟至今猶存，其中包括卡拉科爾（Caracol）和蘇南圖尼奇（Xunantunich）。西班牙人從16世紀起就對貝里斯提出領土要求，但從未嘗試移民於此，不過他們視英國人為妨礙者。英國洋蘇木砍伐者約在17世紀中葉抵達此地。1798年英國人終於擊敗西班牙的反對勢力。當移民開始滲透入內陸時，他們遭到印第安人的反抗。1862年英屬宏都拉斯成為王室殖民地，但英國與瓜地馬拉在1859年簽定的條約中有一項未實現的條款讓瓜地馬拉聲稱擁有宏都拉斯的主權。此情況一直持續到1981年貝里斯獲准獨立。英國原本留有駐軍保護該國安全，但在1991年瓜地馬拉正式承認其領土獨立後撤出。

Belize

formerly (1840-1973)British HondurasCountry, Central America. It is bounded by Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and Guatemala. Area: 8,867 sq mi (22,966 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 228,000. Capital: Belmopan. Much of the population is racially mixed: Creoles of mixed African and European ancestry, Maya Indians, Mayan-European mestizos, and Black Caribs. Languages: English (official), Creole, Spanish. Religions: Roman Catholicism, Methodism, Anglicanism. Currency: Belize dollar. Belize is a land of mountains, swamps, and tropical jungle. The northern half consists of swampy lowlands drained by the Belize and Hondo rivers; the latter forms the boundary with Mexico. The southern half is more mountainous and contains the country's highest peak, Victoria (3,681 ft, or 1,122 m). Off the coast lies the world's second-largest barrier reef. Belize is relatively prosperous and has a developing free-market economy with some government participation. It is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; its head of state is the British monarch represented by the governor-general, and the head of government is the prime minister. The area was inhabited by the Maya c. 300 BC-AD 900; the ruins of their ceremonial centers, including Caracol and Xunantunich, can still be seen. The Spanish claimed sovereignty from the 16th century but never tried to settle Belize, though they regarded as interlopers the British who did. British logwood cutters arrived in the mid-17th century; Spanish opposition was finally overcome in 1798. When settlers began to penetrate the interior they met with Indian resistance. In 1862 British Honduras became a crown colony, but an unfulfilled provision of a 1859 British-Guatemalan treaty led Guatemala to claim the territory. The situation had not been resolved when Belize was granted its independence in 1981. A British force, stationed there to ensure the new nation's security, was withdrawn after Guatemala officially recognized the territory's independence in 1991.