About one-fourth live in Belize City, the principal port, commercial centre, and former capital.

[1] The remaining population includes European, East Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and North American groups.

About 52.9% are Mestizo, 25.9% are Creole, 11.3% Maya, 6.1.% Garifuna, 3.9% East Indian, 3.6% Mennonites, 1.2% White, 1% Asian, 1.2% Other and 0.3% Unknown.

The Yucatec fled to Belize in the late 1840s to escape the Caste War in Yucatán, Mexico.

In the 1870s-1880s, many Q'eqchi' fled from Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, where their communal land were seizured for coffee plantations, where they were forced into service.

Living near rivers and streams, they are primarily farmers, though many younger people now work in tourism, and on shrimp, banana and citrus plantations.

The Mopans originated in Belize, but most were driven out to Guatemala after the British displaced Spanish in a struggle that took most of the 18th century.

A number of linguists classify Belizean Kriol as a separate language, while others consider it to be a dialect of English.

Spanish is the mother tongue of Mestizo and Central American refugees and is commonly spoken at home by 56.6% to 68.8% of the population.

Garifuna (which is Arawakan/Maipurean based, with elements of the Carib language, French, and Spanish) and the Plautdietsch and Pennsylvania German dialects of the Mennonites are spoken as well.

In 2001, UNESCO declared the Garifuna language, dance, and music a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity".

In 2008, the U.S. government received no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice.