Passport/Visa Requirements: Passports but not visas are needed by citizens of Canada and the U.S. Entry is granted for up to 30 days, with a renewal of 90 days usually permitted after appearing at an Immigration office.
Exit Fees: US$20 when leaving the country by air (payable in U.S. funds only), BZ$37.50 or US$18.75 by land.
All U.S. citizens must have a passport when traveling by air to or from Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Central and South America and Mexico. Citizens of Canada, Mexico and the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda also must have a passport or other designated secure document to enter the U.S.
Beginning 1 June 2009, passports are required for land crossings at the Canadian and Mexican borders with the U.S. and for cruise passengers returning to the U.S. from Mexico, the Caribbean, Canada or Bermuda. Reconfirm travel-document requirements with your carrier prior to departure.
Population: 294,385.
Languages: English (official), Spanish, Creole, Maya dialects, Garifuna..
Predominant Religions: Christian (Roman Catholic, Protestant)..
Time Zone: 6 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (-6 GMT). Daylight Saving Time is not observed.
Voltage Requirements: 110 volts.
Telephone Codes: 501, country code;
For More Information
Tourist OfficesBelize: Belize Tourist Board, Lower Flat, New Horizon Investment Building, 3.5 Miles Northern Highway, P.O. Box 325, Belize City. Toll free 800-624-0686 or phone 223-1913. Fax 223-1943. E-mail info@travelbelize.org. http://www.travelbelize.org.
Belize does not maintain tourist offices in Canada or the U.S.
Belize Embassies
U.S. and Canada: Embassy of Belize, 2535 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20008. Phone 202-332-9636. Fax 202-332-6888. http://www.embassyofbelize.org.
Foreign Embassies in Belize
Canada: The Consulate of Canada is located about 1.5 mi/2.4 km northwest of downtown Belize City, 80 Princess Margaret Drive, Belize City. Phone 223-1060. Fax 223-0060.
U.S.: U.S. Embassy, Floral Park Road, Belmopan. Phone 822-4011 or 822-4012. http://www.belize.usembassy.gov.
U.K.: British High Commission, Embassy Square, P.O. Box 91, Belmopan. Phone 822-2146. http://www.britishhighbze.com.
Additional Reading
The novels of Zee Edgell and anything from the Cubola catalog, a publishing company whose Belizean writers series includes anthologies of short stories, poetry, drama, folktales and works by women writers. http://www.cubola.com.
Warlords and Maize Men: A Guide to the Maya Sites of Belize (Cubola Productions). A must-have guide for archaeology buffs. Available in Belize City bookstores and at some of Belize's major archaeological sites.
Our Man in Belize: A Memoir by Richard Timothy Conroy (St. Martin's Press). Fascinating and readable memoir of life in British Honduras in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Belize, A Novel by Carlos Ledson Miller (Xlibris Corp.). Fast-paced saga of father and sons in Belize, covering four decades beginning with Hurricane Hattie in 1961.
Jaguar: One Man's Struggle to Establish the World's First Jaguar Preserve by Alan Rabinowitz (Island Press). Follows the author during two years of field research studying these elusive cats. This is a fascinating eco-memoir and picture of a very primitive Belize in the 1980s.
