1984 Edition

Agriculture

main products — sugarcane, citrus fruits, corn, molasses, rice, beans, bananas, livestock products, honey; net importer of food

main crops — corn, cotton, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, sorghum, oilseeds, pulses, and vegetables

Aid

economic — authorized from US, including Ex-Im (FY70-82), $7.2 million; bilateral ODA and OOF commitments from Western (non-US) countries (1970-81), $98 million

economic commitments, including ExIm (FY70-82), US authorizations $2.8 billion; (1970-81) Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF, $2.7 billion

Airfields

32 total, 31 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways 1, 220-2,439 m

1,992 total, 1,809 usable; 170 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m, 25 with runways 2,4403,659 m, 267 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Area

22,963 km2; 46% exploitable forest, 38% agricultural (5% cultivated); 16% urban, waste, water, offshore islands, or other

transportation; 1.3% mining and quarying; 0.3% electricity; 10% unemployed, 40% underemployed

Branches

bicameral legislature (National Assembly— 18-member elected House of Representatives and eight-member appointed Senate; either house may choose its speaker or president, respectively, from outside its membership); Cabinet; judiciary

British Forces Belize, Belize Defense Force, Police Department

Revolutionary National Assembly, National Executive Council, Central Committee of party

dominant executive, bicameral legislature (National Congress — Senate, Federal Chamber of Deputies), Supreme Court

Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps

legislative branch is composed of the Prince and National Council of 18 members; executive consists of the Prince as Chief of State, the Minister of State as Head of Government (senior French civil servant appointed by Prince), and the Council of Government as Cabinet; judicial authority is delegated by the Prince to the Supreme Tribunal

Budget

revenues, $50 million; expenditures, $93 million (projected budget for April 1982 through March 1983)

1983 public sector, budgeted revenues $52.8 billion, budgeted expenditures $51.9 billion

Capital

Belmopan

Porto-Novo (official), Cotonou (de facto)

Mexico

Monaco

Civil air

no major transport aircraft

174 major transport aircraft

Coastline

386 km People

121 km People

4. 1 km People

Communists

negligible

PRPB espouses MarxismLeninism

Crude steel

10 million metric tons capacity (1982); 7.0 million metric tons produced (1982)

Elections

Parliamentary elections held November 1979; next elections must be held before February 1985 Political parties and leaders: People's United Party (PUP), George Price; United Democratic Party (UDP), Manuel Esquivel, Curl Thompson, and Dean Lindo

National Assembly elections were held in November 1979; Assembly then formally elected Kerekou President in February

next presidential election to be held in 1988 Political parties and leaders: Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Adolfo Lugo Verduzco; National Action Party (PAN), Pablo Emilio Madero Belden; Abel Vincencio Tovar; Popular Socialist Party (PPS), Jorge Cruickshank Garcia; Unified Socialist Party of Mexico (PSUM), Pablo Gomez Alvarez; Mexican Democratic Party (PDM), Gumersindo Magana Negrete; Socialist Workers Party (PST), Rafael Aguilar Talamantes; Revolutionary Workers Party (PRT), Jose Manuel Aguilar Mora; Mexican Workers Party (PMT), Heberto Castillo Martinez

National Council every five years; national election held January 1983; municipal election held February 1983 Political parties and leaders: National and Democratic Union (UND), Democratic Union Movement (MUD), Monaco Action, Monegasque Socialist Party (PSM)

Electric power

21,000 kW capacity (1983); 50 million kWh produced (1983), 325 kWh per capita

14,660,000 kW capacity (1983); 62.5 billion kWh produced (1983), 825 kWh per capita

8,000 kW (standby) capacity (1983); 100 million kWh supplied by France (1983)

Ethnic divisions

51% black, 22% mestizo, 19% Amerindian, 8% other

99% African (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba); 5,500 Europeans

58% French, 19% Monegasque, 17% Italian, 6% unspecified

Exports

$93 million (f.o.b., 1982); sugar, garments, fish, molasses, citrus fruits, wood and wood products

$22.224 billion (f.o.b., 1982); cotton, coffee, nonferrous minerals (including lead and zinc), shrimp, petroleum, sulfur, salt, cattle and meat, fresh fruit, tomatoes, machinery and equipment

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 1,349 metric tons (1980)

catch 1,564,819 metric tons (1981); exports valued at $481 million, imports at $21.9 million (1982)

GDP

$169 million (1982), $1,120 per capita (1982); real growth rate -2% (1982)

$168 billion (1982), $2,273 per capita; 63% private consumption, 12% public consumption, 11% private investment, 10% public investment (1982); net foreign balance 4%; real growth rate 1982, —.05%

GNP

55% tourism; 25-30% industry (small and primarily tourist oriented); 10-15% registration fees and sales of postage stamps; about 4% traceable to the Monte Carlo casino

Government leader

Brig. Gen. Mathieu KEREKOU, President and Chief of State

Miguel DE LA MADRID Hurtado, President

Prince RAINIER III, Chief of State

Government leaders

George Cadle PRICE, Prime Minister; Dr. Elmira Minita GORDON, Governor General

Highways

2,575 km total; 340 km paved, 1,190 km gravel, 735 km improved earth and 310 km unimproved earth

210,000 km total; 65,000 km paved, 30,000 km semipaved or cobblestone, 60,000 km rural roads (improved earth) or roads under construction, 35,000 km unimproved earth roads

Imports

$131 million (c.i.f., 1982); machinery and transportation equipment, food, manufactured goods, fuels

$14.422 billion (f.o.b., 1982); machinery, equipment, industrial vehicles, and intermediate goods

Inland waterways

825 km river network used by shallow-draft craft; seasonally navigable Belize (continued) Benin (formerly Dahomey)

2,900 km navigable rivers and coastal canals

Labor force

34,000 (1982); 30% services, 25% agriculture, 23% industry and commerce, 22% government; shortage of skilled labor and all types of technical personnel; over 15% are unemployed

1.5 million (1982); 70% of labor force employed in agriculture; less than 2% of the labor force work in the industrial sector and the remainder are employed in transport, commerce, and public services

Land boundaries

515 km Water

1,963 km Water

3.7 km Water

Language

English (official), Spanish Maya, and Carib

French (official); Fon and Yoruba most common vernaculars in south; at least six major tribal languages in north

French (official), English, Italian, Monegarque

Legal system

English law

based on French civil law and customary law; legal education generally obtained in France; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; constitution established in 1917; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

based on French law; new constitution adopted 1962; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

3 nm (fishing 12 nm)

200 nm (100 nm mineral exploitation limit)

12 nm

Literacy

over 80%

20%

99% Government

Major industries

sugar refining, garments, timber and forest products, furniture, rum, soap, beverages, cigarettes

processing of food, beverages, and tobacco; chemicals, basic metals and metal products, petroleum products, mining, textiles and clothing, and transport equipment

chemicals, food processing, precision instruments, glassmaking, printing

Major trade partners

exports — US 43%, UK 37%, Trinidad and Tobago 6%, Mexico 2%; imports— US 52%, UK 17%, Netherlands Antilles 5% (1979 est.)

exports — 60% US, 18% EC, 7% Japan (1982); imports— 62% US, 16% EC, 6% Japan

Member of

CARICOM, CDB, Commonwealth, GATT, IBRD, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, G-77, NAM, ISO, ITU, UN, UNESCO Economy

AfDB, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, Niger River Commission, OAU, OCAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDE— InterAmerican Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC— International Whaling Commission, LAIA, NAMUCAR (Caribbean Multinational Shipping Line — Naviera Multinacional del Caribe), OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO Economy

IAEA, ICAO, IHO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, UN (permanent observer), UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO Economy

Military budget

for year ending 31 December 1983, $353.6 million; 1.4% of central government budget CSee reference map V) Land 1.5 km2

Military manpower

males 15-49, 39,000; 24,000 fit for military service; 1,700 reach military age ( 1 8) annually; the nucleus of the Belize Defense Force (BDF) is the former Special Force of the Belize Police, which was transferred intact to the new organization; the bulk of the early recruits were drawn from the Belize Volunteer Guard, a home guard force that had previously acted as a police reserve; currently, the BDF consists of full-time soldiers referred to as the "Regulars" and an essentially reserve group, which has maintained the "Volunteer Guard" name; recruitment is voluntary and the terms of service vary Land 1 12,622 km2; southern third of country is most fertile; 80% arable land (11% actually cultivated); 19% forest and game preserves; 1% nonarable

males 15-49, 18,295,000; 14,507,000 fit for military service; 860,000 reach military age (18) annually

Monetary conversion rate

2 Belize dollars=US$l (19 January 1984)

dual exchange rates — controlled rate 144 pesos=US$l; "free" rate 168=US$1 (both rates as of 1 January 1984, rates depreciating by 13 centavos a day in early 1984)

National holiday

30 November

Independence Day, 16 September

19 November

Nationality

noun — Belizean(s); adjective — Belizean

noun — Beninese (sing., pi.); adjective— Beninese

noun — Monacan(s) or Monegasque(s); adjective — Monacan or Monegasque

Official name

Belize

People's Republic of Benin

United Mexican States

Principality of Monaco

Organized labor

8% of labor force Government

approximately 75% of wage earners, divided among two major and several minor unions Government

20% of total labor force Government

Other political or pressure groups

United Workers Union, which is connected with PUP

Roman Catholic Church, Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), Confederation of Industrial Chambers (CONCAMIN), Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce (CONCANACO), National Peasant Confederation (CNC), National Confederation of Popular Organizations (CNOP), Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC)

Pipelines

crude oil, 5,134 km; refined products, 6,875 km; natural gas, 9,490 km Monaco

Political parties

People's Revolutionary Party of Benin (PRPB) is sole party

Political subdivisions

6 provinces, 46 districts

31 states and the Federal District

1 commune composed of 4 communal sectors

Population

158,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 2. 1 %

3,910,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 3. 1 %

28,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 1.2%

Ports

2 major (Belize City, Belize Southwest), 5 minor

12 major, 19 minor

Railroads

none

20,680 km total; 19,950 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 730 km 0.914meter narrow gauge; 20 km electrified

Religion

50% Roman Catholic; Anglican, Seventh-Day Adventist, Methodist, Baptist, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mennonite

70% animist, 15% Muslim, 15% Christian

95% Roman Catholicism

Suffrage

universal adult (probably 21)

universal adult

universal over age 18; compulsory but unenforced

universal adult

Telecommunications

6,250 telephones; (4.3 per 100 popl.); radio-relay system; above average system based on radio-relay; 5 AM stations and 1 FM station; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT station Defense Forces

highly developed telecom system with extensive radio-relay links; connection into Central American microwave net; 2 Atlantic Ocean satellite ground antennas; 5.08 million telephones (7.5 per 100 popl.); 630 AM, 1 10 FM, and 120 TV stations; and about 180 low-power relay stations; 200 domestic satellite terminals Defense Forces

Type

parliamentary; independent state; a member of the Commonwealth

Soviet-modeled civilian government

federal republic operating in fact under a centralized government

constitutional monarchy

Voting strength

National Assembly — PUP 13 seats, UDP 4 seats, independents 1 seat

(1982 presidential election) 74% PRI; 15% PAN; 4% PSUM; 7% other opposition and annulled

(1978) National CouncilUNO 18 seats