34 / 64
ond, most people live in a few principal urban centers.
According to the most recent census, taken in 2010, roughly one-sixth
of the population (about 57,000) lives in Belize City which is also the princi-
pal port. The next largest urban area is San Ignacio, with a population of
around 18,000. The capital city, Belmopan, has a population of about 14,000.
Belmopan is located inland on high ground, practically in the geographic
center of the country, about 50 miles (80 km) to the southwest of Belize City.
Its population is increasing as more people, mainly government workers,
continue to relocate to the new capital. Outside of these two small cities, the
Belizean countryside is largely open with scattered villages.
According to the 2010 census, the main ethnic groups in Belize are
mes-
tizo
(mixed white and Amerindian), Creole (mixed white and black), Maya
(Yucatec, Mopans, and Kekchi Amerindians), and Garifuna (mixed black
and Caribbean islander).
Other ethnic groups account for a small percentage of the population:
East Indian, German/Dutch, and Mennonite. Large neighborhoods of
Arabs, Europeans, and Chinese can be found, too. In the late 1990s, Belize
tended to be a refuge for Guatemalans fleeing fighting between guerrillas
and government forces. Figures from January 1997 show that 8,672 regis-
tered refugees had settled in Belize. Since then, many have returned home.
Mestizos
Mestizo
are a Spanish-speaking people descended from Yucatec Maya and
Spanish. The first
mestizo
migrated from the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico
during a period of civil war in the mid-19th century.
Mestizo
were the
Belize
34