Belize It Or Not Trivia Quiz

Answer: British Honduras

English buccaneers began to exploit the woodlands of Belize in the early 17th century. The name Belize possibly comes from one such pirate, whose name was Peter Wallace. The Spanish called him "Ballis" and his name was supposedly given to the recently discovered Belize River.

Later that century, the British began to settle in the area and gradually began to run it politically. No formal claim on the land was made, however, until 1862 when it was declared as "British Honduras". The name persisted until 1973 by which time Britain had stepped away from the day-to-day running of the country allowing Belize to prepare for independence.

Answer: Hurricane

Fortunately, the arrival of Hurricane Hattie in October 1961 had been anticipated and the potentially large number of casualties was reduced by a large evacuation of Belize City and other coastal areas. The first devastating hurricane that had hit the city in 1931 came unexpectedly and cost the lives of close to 2,000 inhabitants.

The great cost of the 1961 storm, which was the last of the twentieth century to reach category five status, came in terms of the city's buildings. Barely a single building in the city escaped damage and around 40% were destroyed completely.

The level of damage led the government to petition the UK for the funds to build a new capital in the country's inland area where damage of this kind was less likely to occur.

Answer: Guatemala and Mexico

Despite once sharing a name, Honduras and Belize are not contiguous and do not share a land border. The two countries are separated by a strip of Guatemalan land about 30 miles wide that borders Amatique Bay.

Answer: Barrier reef

The Belize barrier reef is part of the Mesoamerican reef that runs for 900km alongside the coast of the Yucatan peninsula. It is second in length to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The reef was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 for its natural beauty and as a home for many endangered species.

Like any reef system it is very vulnerable to climatic events and human pollution and, although in a sparsely populated area such as Belize the effects of human action are thought to be less of an issue, the reef was nevertheless placed on UNESCO's "in danger" list in 2009 due to the excessive cutting of the mangrove forests in the area.

Answer: Tropical

According to the Köppen climate classification system, a tropical climate is not necessarily defined by geographical location. Rather, it is the mean temperature that defines the classification of the climate. Belize, however, does fall within the tropical region between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, with the north of the country at around 19°N and the south, around 15°N.

Belize has distinct dry and rainy seasons. The dry season runs from January to April in the north of the country and from February to April in the south.

Answer: Its currency is the Belize pound

The Belizean currency is the Belize dollar (BZ$) which was founded in 1885. It was the only British colony of the Caribbean area not to use sterling as its currency until 1955. The value of the dollar has been pegged to the US dollar (as BZ$2 to US$1) since 1978.

Answer: Maya mountains

The Canaa temple at Caracol was built by the Mayans around 1000AD and stands at 143 feet tall (approx 43.5 metres). Its windows were built so that they aligned with the sun on the solstice and equinox days. From the top it gives magnificent views of the Chiquibul Rainforest.

Answer: The Great Blue Hole

Such underwater sinkholes are known as blue holes due to the contrast between the deep blue of the water they contain and the lighter blue of the shallower waters surrounding them. Blue holes are formed from collapsed underwater limestone caves that themselves formed in times when sea levels were lower, such as past ice ages. The Great Blue Hole was, in those times, an opening to an underground network of caves that became flooded as the ice melted and sea levels rose. Though the roof of the cave opening has collapsed due to the weight of water, the caves can still be explored by divers.

Typically, blue holes have depths of around 100-125 metres with the Great Blue Hole being towards the top end of this scale. Though it is believed to be the widest blue hole in the world, it is not the deepest. That record is held by Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas which is just over 200 metres deep.

Answer: It had the narrowest main street in the world

Placencia is a town with a population of around 1,000 people that is situated at the end of a narrow peninsula in the south of the country. It attracts many tourists for its laid back atmosphere (to the point of horizontal - hammocks essential), its beautiful lagoon and the nearby rainforest.

Its main street is just four feet (or 1.2 metres) wide, making it, according to the "Guinness World of Records" in 2000, the narrowest main street in the world. The original street was destroyed in a hurricane in 2001 but was rebuilt to the same size a year later.

Answer: Guatemala

Guatemala had for a long time threatened force to back its claim to Belizean territory. The claim went back to peace treaties signed between the colonial powers of the United Kingdom and Spain in the late 18th century over sovereign powers in the wider region of Central America. When the new republics in this region gained independence from Spain in 1821 they asserted their right to inherit Spain's sovereign powers but the UK refused to accept this and maintained their rights over what was then British Honduras.

The UK accepted Belize's argument for independence in the early 1960s but was unable to come to an agreement with Guatemala over its claim on the land. In 1975, the UK abandoned attempts at negotiation and handed over the matter to the UN and other international organisations.

Over the course of the next six years, the Central American nations that had initially backed Guatemala's claim began to turn their favour towards Belize as Guatemala's actions threatened to destabilise peace in the region. By 1981, Guatemala stood alone and despite continued attempts to broker one, Belize declared independence without coming to an agreement with Guatemala.

Guatemala continued to assert its claim on Belize but in 1992, Guatemalan President Jorge Serrano recognised Belize's independence. In spite of this recognition, Guatemala continued to dispute its border with Belize into the 21st century.