贝里斯(Belize)

西班牙语作Belice

旧称英属宏都拉斯（British Honduras, 1840～1973）

中美洲国家。与墨西哥、瓜地马拉为邻，滨临加勒比海。面积22,965平方公里。人口约247,000（2001）。首都︰贝尔莫潘。居民大多是各种族的混血种：克里奥尔人（欧洲和非洲人的混血种）、马雅印第安人、梅斯蒂索人（马雅和欧洲人的混血种）和加勒比黑人。语言︰英语（官方语）、克里奥尔语和西班牙语。宗教：天主教、循道宗和安立甘宗。货币︰贝里斯元（BZ$）。境内多山、沼泽和热带丛林。北半部包括由贝里斯河和洪多河等河流形成的沼泽低地，洪多河在北部形成与墨西哥的边界线。南半部多山，包括了全国最高点维多利亚峰，海拔1,122公尺。该国近海处有世界上第二大堡礁。贝里斯相当繁荣，属於开发中自由市场经济（政府部分参与）。为君主立宪国家，两院制。国家元首是总督（代表英国君主），政府首脑为总理。

马雅人在西元前300～西元900年就已定居於此，其举行宗教仪式中心的废墟至今犹存，其中包括卡拉科尔（Caracol）和苏南图尼奇（Xunantunich）。西班牙人从16世纪起就对贝里斯提出领土要求，但从未尝试移民於此，不过他们视英国人为妨碍者。英国洋苏木砍伐者约在17世纪中叶抵达此地。1798年英国人终於击败西班牙的反对势力。当移民开始渗透入内陆时，他们遭到印第安人的反抗。1862年英属宏都拉斯成为王室殖民地，但英国与瓜地马拉在1859年签定的条约中有一项未实现的条款让瓜地马拉声称拥有宏都拉斯的主权。此情况一直持续到1981年贝里斯获准独立。英国原本留有驻军保护该国安全，但在1991年瓜地马拉正式承认其领土独立後撤出。

English version：

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.