Today we head back to the Caribbean to Latin American’s only English speaking country. Belize is English speaking as it was a British colony until 1981 and known as British Honduras until the 1970s.
Belize City is Belize’s largest city and used to the the capital, but after being levelled by Hurricane Hattie in October 1961 the capital was moved inland to the new city of Belmopan. This is a tiny city with a population of only around 20,000 people and a circumference of 4 km. Despite having a small population of around 400,000, it is a very diverse country with large populations of mennonite (think Amish), Creole, Mayan, Garinagu and Mestizo people.
Unsurprisingly Belize has a particularly low population density which leaves a lot of space for nature. Almost 60% of the country is still forested, hosting one of the world’s richest clusters of biodiversity. Belize is home to jaguars, howler monkeys, scarlet macaw and tapirs as well as a large number of species only found in Belize.
This incredible nature is not just inland; Belize is home to the world’s second largest largest barrier reef and Great Blue Hole, a giant marine sinkhole
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