Colonisation, slavery, and immigration have played major roles in affecting the ethnic composition of the population and as a result, Belize is a country with numerous cultures, languages, and ethnic groups.

The country’s population is currently estimated to be a little over 333,000. Mestizos comprise about 34% of the population, Kriols 25%, Spanish 15%, Maya 11%, and Garinagu 6%.

Population and Housing

According to the 2010 Housing and Population Census, the total population of Belize is 312,971. The total number of households in Belize was 79,598 and the average household size was 3.9.

The homeless population was amounted to 118 total of which 113 were males and 5 were females. The institutional population were discovered to be 1,957; 1,665 being male and 292 being females.

The total population in urban Belize was 139,069; 68,020 males and 71,049 females. 39,104 total households in 2010 and a 3.6 average household size.

The total population in rural Belize was 171,827; 88,261 males and 83,566 females. 40,494 total households in 2010 and a 4.2 average household size.

Maya and Early Settlers

The Maya are thought to have been in Belize and the Yucatán region since the second millennium BC; however, much of Belize’s original Maya population was wiped out by disease and conflicts between tribes and with Europeans.

Three Maya groups now inhabit the country: The Yucatec (who came from Yucatán, Mexico to escape the Caste War of the 1840s), the Mopan (indigenous to Belize but were forced out by the British; they returned from Guatemala to evade slavery in the 19th century), and Kekchi (also fled from slavery in Guatemala in the 19th century). The later groups are chiefly found in the Toledo District.

White, initially Spanish conquistadors explored and declared the land a Spanish colony but chose not to settle due to the lack of resources such as gold and the strong defence of the Yucatán by the Maya.

Later English and Scottish settlers and pirates known as the “Baymen” entered the area in the 16th and 17th century respectively and established a logwood trade colony in what would become the Belize District.

Kriols

Kriols make up roughly 25% of the Belizean population and about 75% percent of the Diaspora. They are descendants of the Baymen slave owners, and slaves brought to Belize for the purpose of the logging industry. These slaves were mostly Black (many also of Miskito ancestry) from Nicaragua and born Africans who had spent very brief periods in Jamaica.

Bay Islanders and more Jamaicans came in the late-19th century, further adding these all ready varied peoples, creating this ethnic group.

For all intents and purposes, Kriol is an ethnic and linguistic denomination, but some natives, even those blonde and blue-eyed, may call themselves Kriol, defining it as more a cultural attribute and not limited to physical appearance. Kriol was historically only spoken by them, but this ethnicity has become synonymous with the Belizean national identity, and as a result it is now spoken by about 75% of Belizeans.

Kriols are found all over Belize, but predominantly in urban areas such as Belize City, coastal towns and villages, and in the Belize River Valley.

Garinagu

The Garinagu (singular Garifuna) are a mix of African, Arawak, and Carib ancestry. More precisely, the average Garifuna is 76% Sub Saharan African, 20% Arawak/Carib and 4% European.

Throughout history they have been incorrectly labeled as Black Caribs. When the British took over Saint Vincent after the Treaty of Paris in 1763, they were opposed by French settlers and their Carib allies. The Caribs eventually surrendered to the British in 1796.

The British separated the more African-looking Caribs from the more indigenous looking ones. 5,000 Garinagu were exiled, but only about 2,500 of them survived the voyage to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras.

Because Roatán was too small and infertile to support their population, the Garinagu petitioned the Spanish authorities of Honduras to be allowed to settle on the mainland coast. The Spanish employed them as soldiers, and they spread along the Caribbean coast of Central America.

The Garinagu settled in Seine Bight, Punta Gorda and Punta Negra, Belize by way of Honduras as early as 1802. However, in Belize 19 November 1832 is the date officially recognized as “Garifuna Settlement Day” in Dangriga.

Mestizos and Spanish

Around the 1840s, Mestizo, Spanish, and Yucatec settlers from Mexico began to settle in the north due to the Caste War of Yucatán.

Currently, the Mestizos are the largest ethnic group in Belize, making up 34% of the population in 2000, and Spanish make up 15%. They predominate in the Corozal, Orange Walk, and much of the Cayo district, as well as San Pedro town in Ambergris Caye.

The Mestizo culture was originated from a mixture of Spanish and Maya. The Mestizo towns of Belize have much more in common with neighbouring Yucatán and most of Guatemala and Central America than central, southern or coastal Belize. Towns centre on a main square, and social life focuses on the Catholic Church built on one side of it.

Most Mestizos and Spanish speak Spanish, English and Kriol fluently.

Other Groups

The remaining 9% is a mix of Mennonite farmers, Indians, Chinese, whites from the United States and Canada, and many other foreign groups brought to assist the country’s development.

During the 1860s, a large influx of Indians and American Civil War veterans from Louisiana and other Southern states established Confederate settlements in British Honduras and introduced commercial sugar cane production to the colony, establishing 11 settlements in the interior.

The 20th century saw the arrival of Asian settlers from mainland China, South Korea, India, Syria, and Lebanon. Central American immigrants and expatriate Americans and Africans also began to settle in the country.

Emigration, Immigration, and Demographic Shifts

Kriols and other ethnic groups are emigrating mostly to the United States, but also to the United Kingdom and other developed nations for better opportunities.

Based on the latest U.S. Census, the number of Belizeans in the United States is approximately 160,000 (including 70,000 legal residents and naturalised citizens), consisting mainly of Kriols and Garinagu.

Due to conflicts in neighbouring Central American nations, Mestizo refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have fled to Belize in significant numbers during the 1980s, and have been significantly adding to this group. These two events have been changing the demographics of the nation for the last 30 years.