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Belize: Central America
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Belize is part of Central America's Yucatan Peninsula in a region known as "Mundo Maya"—cradle of the Mayan people for 3000 years. From 1862 to its independence in 1973, Belize was known as British Honduras. Its tropical forests, coastal reefs and inland waterways have inspired many to call it a Caribbean Garden of Eden.
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Belize's birth rate currently stands at nearly 25/1000. Nearly 6 people die per year out of 1,000 members of the population; this figure includes murders, accidents and death from natural causes. Infant mortality, now at 24 deaths per thousand people, has been improving over the last century. Male babies are more likely to die than females. The life expectancy of a typical male is 66 years, while for a female it is 70. HIV/AIDS, while not a serious threat to national stability, does affect enough of the population to give Belize a high infection rating among Caribbean and Central American nations.
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Although Belize provides health services to its citizens, many women, especially in rural areas, do not receive adequate care. According to the 1995 report by the Pan American Heath Organization (PAHO), more than forty percent of women seen at prenatal clinics are anemic. Women from the Garífuna and Ketchi Maya ethnic groups showed serious iron and vitamin A deficiencies.52
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Eleven people in Georgia, North Carolina, South Dakota and the Central American nation of Belize were indicted on charges of selling counterfeit prescription drugs over the Internet. Investigators believe many of the drugs had little or no medicinal value, and that those behind the scam netted more than $19 million.
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Belize is located in the Northern Hemisphere, within Central America. Belize is bounded on the North by Mexico, South and West by Guatemala, and the beautiful Caribbean Sea washes its 174 mile coastline to the East.
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A constitutional monarchy on the Caribbean coast of Central America, Belize was once known as British Honduras. The name Belize, officially adopted in 1973, comes from a Mayan word that means “muddy water.” The former British colony has an area of 8,867 square miles (22,965 square kilometers) and is only about 68 miles (109 kilometers) across at its greatest width.
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