The Urban System of Belize and Belize City

Abstract: Belize is located on the Caribbean coast of northern Central America and shares a border on the north with Mexico, on the west and south with Guatemala. To the east is the Caribbean sea and the second largest barrier reef in the world, which flanks most of the 386 kilometers of the predominantly marshy coastline. The area of the country is 22,960 square kilometers, which is slightly larger than El Salvador or Massachusetts. (Merril, 1993)

In 1990, the population was approximately 191,000 persons, with 50.1 of these living in rural areas. In the previous ten years, there was a large influx of persons fleeing the wars in Mexico and El Salvador, and increasing numbers of persons from Belize City migrating to the United States. Belize City's population accounted for almost thirty percent of the total urban population of the country. (Merril, 1993)

Introduction:

In a land so small and sparsely populated, and divided in half between rural and urban, it hardly seems apt to study the "urban system" of the country. However, even in Belize, where there is no real primate city like Cairo in Egypt or Tokyo in Japan, Belize City has, from the time of the Baymen acted as an urban center, with its residents controlling most of the country's land and economy. The small population size can be seen as a direct effect of the unique political and economic beginnings of the country and have effected the growth of the country and the growth of Belize City.
Belize City has, with its small size has been in its history, economy, culture, and reaction to the natural environment, a direct reflector of the movements within the country of Belize. As a cultural and political center, it has served as a primate city to the rest of the country.
What will be discussed below in the body of the paper is a history of the development of Belize City with respect to the economy, geography, culture and changing political rule of the country, in four main stages: the Early history of the Baymen, the history following the arrival of the Expatriate community, the Beginnings of self rule, and the current state of Belize city. There will then be a specific section dealing with the series of migrations into Belize and the current out migration of Belizenas to the United States. Another small section will deal specifically with the problems of fires in Belize City and the reactions to the endemic hurricanes that effect Belize City. Finally there will be a section dealing with notes and a bibliography.
Each section, save the bibliography, is given a brief description below and can be read as in independent entity or as part of a complimentary whole.

0The Early History of Belize
This section gives a brief description of the Pre-Columbian Maya history and the following settlements with emphasis on the time period between the settlement of the Baymen and the arrival of the English expatriate community. This section deals with the unique political and economic activity of the area with respect to it's geography, both political and ecological.
0History in the Colonial Period
This period of "Colonial Rule" deals with the time period when the British Expatriate Class began to usurp control of the land from the old Settler land owning class around 1860-1885, and continues until the beginnings of self rule in the early 1960's. It deals most specifically with the continuation of cultural domination through the control of the land, immigrations of Latin American populations into Belize and issues of a fairly stable population through out the centuries. There is special significance given to a description of the conditions of Belize City in 1930, and the comparison of these to the conditions one century earlier.
0The Beginnings of Self Rule
This time period goes roughly from 1960-1988, during the period of limited self rule, until full independence in 1988.
0The Current State of Belize City
This section deals with the state of Belize City as of 1990, and as such cannot be seen as totally current. But, for statistical and quantitative data, this as current as the data on housing, economy, social- cultural makeup of the city and data on services delivered to the public in various parts of the city, this is the most current data I could find. The issues listed above will be dealt with both statistically and qualitatively (as of 1990).
0The Historically Significant Migrations both into and out of Belize
This deals with the migrations into and out of Belize, ranging from the immigration of the Conquistadors and subsequent out migration of the Maya up to the current emigration of residents of Belize City to the United States, including as many statistics as possible.
0The Significance of Natural Disasters to the Geography of Belize City
Click here to read a description of the effects of natural disasters on the geography, including hurricanes and fires. This section will discuss the changes resultant in the city's physical geography and the ways Belizans have dealt with the disasters.
0Bibliography
This is the full bibliography and list of end notations for the paper.

I would appreciate any questions, comments or critique you have on this paper. Please write me at JSCHREIBER@macalester.EDU. Thank you for your feedback, Joseph Schreiber.