National / Regional Profiles
Included Nations/Regions: Belize [x], Central America [x], The World [x]
Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1
Religion Indexes (Belize)
|
State Funding of Religion Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 128/253 |
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 148/253 |
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 145/253 |
State Discrimination of Minority Religions Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3) Ranking: 145/253 |
Belize: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Buddhists, Ethnic religionists, Jews, Muslims, Nonreligious, Spiritists.
Belize: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2
The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Agnostics, Atheists, doubly-affiliated, Islamic schismatics, Mahayanists, Saktists, Shaivites, Shias, Sunnis, Vaishnavites.
Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2
| Religion | Belize [x] |
Central America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baha'is | 2.54% | 0.12% | 0.11% |
| Buddhists | 0.49% | 0.05% | 6.83% |
| --Mahayanists | 0.49% | 0.05% | 4.89% |
| --Theravadins | --- | --- | 1.72% |
| --Lamaists | --- | --- | 0.23% |
| Chinese folk-religionists | --- | 0.03% | 5.98% |
| Christians | 92.26% | 95.72% | 32.16% |
| --unaffiliated Christians | 3.52% | 1.73% | 1.46% |
| --Orthodox | --- | 0.19% | 3.75% |
| --Catholics | 71.42% | 84.36% | 15.90% |
| --Protestants | 31.19% | 7.73% | 7.51% |
| --Independents | 6.29% | 7.35% | 5.00% |
| Daoists | --- | --- | 0.11% |
| Confucianists | --- | --- | 0.11% |
| Ethnic religionists | 0.64% | 0.96% | 3.65% |
| Hindus | 1.98% | 0.01% | 13.58% |
| --Vaishnavites | 0.51% | 0.00% | 5.15% |
| --Shaivites | 0.75% | 0.00% | 4.86% |
| --Saktists | 0.72% | 0.00% | 3.57% |
| Jains | --- | --- | 0.08% |
| Jews | 0.03% | 0.03% | 0.19% |
| Muslims | 0.50% | 0.10% | 24.20% |
| --Sunnis | 0.49% | 0.07% | 21.56% |
| --Shias | 0.01% | 0.02% | 2.44% |
| --Islamic schismatics | 0.01% | 0.00% | 0.21% |
| New religionists | --- | 0.03% | 0.85% |
| Shintoists | --- | --- | 0.04% |
| Sikhs | --- | 0.00% | 0.34% |
| Spiritists | 0.96% | 0.14% | 0.19% |
| Zoroastrians | --- | --- | 0.00% |
| Non-Religious | 0.60% | 2.82% | 11.57% |
| --Agnostics | 0.58% | 2.66% | 9.65% |
| --Atheists | 0.02% | 0.16% | 1.92% |
Religious demographics (Belize)3
The country has an area of 8,867 square miles and population of 312,000. There is a growing mestizo population (48.7 percent), a diminishing Creole component (24.9 percent), a stable Mayan element (10.6 percent), and a Garifuna component (6.1 percent). The balance of the population (9.7 percent) includes Europeans, East Indians, Chinese, Arabs, and North Americans.
According to the 2000 census, Roman Catholics constitute 49.6 percent of the population, Pentecostals 7.4 percent, Anglicans 5.3 percent, Baptists 3.5 percent, Methodists 3.5 percent, Seventh‑day Adventists 5.2 percent, and Mennonites 4.1 percent. There are approximately 6,000 Nazarenes and modest numbers of Hindus, Baha'is, Buddhists, Jehovah's Witnesses, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Muslims, Rastafarians, and Salvation Army members. Except for the Mennonites and Pentecostals, who live mostly in the rural districts of Cayo and Orange Walk, members of these groups tend to live in Belize City. Catholics are numerous throughout the country and constitute the majority in all but two of the country's six districts, Belize and Cayo, where they represent a plurality of the population. Approximately 10 percent of citizens identify themselves as nonbelievers or members of no religious congregation.
Summary Information |
Belize [x] |
Central America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Central America | The World | -- |
| Total Population4 | 359,287 | 172,740,074 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Area in square miles | 8,867 | 959,946 | 196,939,900 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 70.3 | 74.9 | 71.9 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 8,000.0 | 11,031.3 | 16,101.0 |
| Description of Polity Score6 | -- | -- | -- |
| Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 | -- | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| Official Religion(s)8 | Catholicism and Extended Protestantism | -- | -- |
Belize - Google Map
Religion and the State
Religion and State Collection (2014) |
Belize [x] |
|---|---|
| Is proselytizing Legal?1 | Yes |
| Is religious registration someties denied?1 | There is no registration requirement |
| What are the consequences of registration?1 | There is no registration requirement |
| Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 | Preferred Religion |
| The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 | Mandatory, but upon specific request, a student may opt out of the course. |
| The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 | Government funding of religion goes to only some religions for which there are a substantial number of adherents in the country. |
| The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 | The oath of office for some or all officials contains mention of God or religion in general but that part is optional. |
Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]
Features of Constitution |
Belize [x] |
|---|---|
| Is there a constitution?9 | Yes |
| Does the constitution state an official religion?10 | not stated |
| Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?10 | yes [ Section 11 ] |
| Does the constitution protect religious equality/non-discrimination?10 | yes [ Sections 3, 16 ] |
Constitution |
Belize [x] |
|---|---|
| Constitution Year10 | 1981 |
| Last Amended10 | 2011 |
| Source10 | World Constitutions Illustrated |
| Translation10 | Original was written in English. |
| Current as of10 | July 13, 2018 |
Socio-Economic Measures
Education |
Belize [x] |
Central America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Literacy Rate, in percentage of adult population12 | 76.9 | 92.4 | 86.2 |
| Net Primary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 96.1 | 93.5 | 89.6 |
| Net Secondary School Enrollment Rate, in percentage of population of official school age5 | 69.5 | 63.7 | 65.1 |
Economic Measures |
Belize [x] |
Central America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 | 1.7 | 1,291.6 | 75,845.1 |
| Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 1,131.8 | 512,030.7 | 20,150,355.0 |
| Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars13 | 968.5 | 477,553.4 | 20,790,015.7 |
| Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max14 | 58.6 | 62.3 | 62.9 |
| Human Development Index15 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)16 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 | 8,000.0 | 11,031.3 | 16,101.0 |
Military Measures |
Belize [x] |
Central America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 117 | 0.0000196 | 0.002215513 | 0.005162584 |
| 2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 | 1.0 | 0.6 | -- |
Demographic and Health Measures |
Belize [x] |
Central America [x] |
The World [x] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Population4 | 359,287 | 172,740,074 | 7,335,774,068 |
| Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 | 70.3 | 74.9 | 71.9 |
| 2012 Net Migration Rate (migrants per 1,000 population)5 | 7.6 | -1,569.8 | -- |
| Urban Percentage of Total Population13 | 43.8 | 74.2 | 54.3 |
| Urban Population Growth, by percentage13 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.0 |
| Fertility Rate, in total births per woman13 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.5 |
| Infant Mortality Rate, in deaths per 1000 live births13 | 12.8 | 14.3 | 30.5 |
| HIV Prevalence, in percentage of population ages 15-49 with HIV13 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society
Constitution Clauses Related to Religion
Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Belize)10
Preamble
WHEREAS the people of Belize-
(a) affirm that the Nation of Belize shall be founded upon principles which acknowledge the supremacy of God, … equal and inalienable rights with which all members of the human family are endowed by their Creator; …
(e) require policies of state … which eliminate economic and social privilege and disparity among the citizens of Belize whether by … creed, …
…
Section 3. Fundamental rights and freedoms.
Whereas every person in Belize is entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, … whatever his … creed …, but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest, to each and all of the following, namely—
[Here follow enumerated rights]
Section 11. Protection of freedom of conscience
(1) Except with his own consent, a person shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of conscience, including freedom of thought and of religion, freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others, and both in public and in private, to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.
(2) Except with his own consent (or, if he is a person under the age of eighteen years, the consent of his parent or guardian) a person attending any place of education, detained in any prison or corrective institution or serving in a naval, military or air force shall not be required to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if that instruction, ceremony or observance relates to a religion which is not his own.
(3) Every recognised religious community shall be entitled, at its own expense, to establish and maintain places of education and to manage any place of education which it maintains; and no such community shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for persons of that community in the course of any education provided by that community whether or not it is in receipt of a government subsidy or other form of financial assistance designed to meet in whole or in part the cost of such course of education.
(4) A person shall not be compelled to take any oath which is contrary to his religion or belief or to take any oath in a manner which is contrary to his religion or belief.
(5) Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision which is reasonably required—
(a) in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health;
(b) for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedoms of other persons, including the right to observe and practise any religion without the unsolicited intervention of members of any other religion; or
(c) for the purpose of regulating educational institutions in the interest of the persons who receive or may receive instruction in them.
(6) References in this section to a religion shall be construed as including references to a religious denomination, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.
Section 16. Protection from discrimination on the grounds of race, etc.
(1) Subject to the provisions of subsections (4), (5) and (7) of this section, no law shall make any provision that is discriminatory either of itself or in its effect.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsections (6), (7) and (8) of this section, no person shall be treated in a discriminatory manner by any person or authority.
(3) In this section, the expression "discriminatory" means affording different treatment to different persons attributable wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by … creed whereby persons of one such description are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another such description are not made subject or are accorded privileges or advantages which are not accorded to persons of another such description.
[Some technical exceptions follow]
Section 61. Composition of Senate.
…
(4) Of the twelve Senators—
…
(c) one shall be appointed by the Governor-General acting in accordance with the advice of the Belize Council of Churches and Evangelical Association of Churches;
…
Variable Details
Sources
1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).
3 The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.
4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.
5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.
7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.
8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.
9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at
11 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
12 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.
13 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
14 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
15 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
16 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
17 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
18 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.
19 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.
