Belize is that little spot on the map just to the right of Guatemala and just below Mexico. The Rio Hondo separates Mexico, a country with 100 million people and an area of about three-quarters of a million square miles, from Belize, with its area of 8,866 square miles, about the size of Massachusetts, and population of only 240,000. By air, Belize is about two hours from Miami or Houston.

Driving through Mexico from Texas takes about four days.

Belize is a stable democracy, a member of the British Commonwealth with an English common-law tradition. The country -- formerly British Honduras -- has been independent since 1971. The Westminster-style system has a prime minister, an elected house of representatives and an appointed senate. The current prime minister is Said Musa, a British-educated lawyer of Palestinian and Belizean heritage. He heads the People’s United Party, which swept the last national elections in 1998. The main opposition party is the United Democratic Party. The two parties are centrist, and their policies and ideologies are not very different, but Belize politics are often intensely personal.

The climate of Belize is subtropical, similar to that of South Florida. Daytime temperatures generally are in the 80s or 90s most of the year, with nighttime temps in the 60s in winter, 70s in the summer. In areas of higher altitude, such as the Mountain Pine Ridge and Maya Mountains, winter temperatures may occasionally fall into the high 40s or low 50s.

Belize is in the hurricane belt, but the western Caribbean does not get as many hurricanes as the Southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast or the Gulf coast of Texas. On average, Belize is visited by a hurricane about once every 10 years. Tropical storm and hurricane season in Belize is June through November, with most storms coming late in the season, particularly September through early November.

The most recent storm to strike Belize was Hurricane Keith in late September 2000. The hurricane’s winds of 120 miles per hour hit Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, the two largest islands off the coast of Belize, doing about $100 million in damage and killing four people, including two American citizens, residents of Ambergris Caye who were attempting to move their catamaran to safe harbor. The Belize mainland received an additional $150 million in damage, mostly from flooding, but there were no additional deaths.

Health and Crime

In the past, expatriates in Belize used to say that their hospitals were “TACA, American and Continental airlines,” the three major airlines serving Belize. For top-flight medical care, Americans in Belize still may fly to Miami or Houston or go to Chetumal, Mexico, just north of Corozal, but Belize City and most towns in Belize have doctors and dentists trained in the United States, Mexico and Guatemala. Local medical care is inexpensive. A medical office visit is $15-$20, and prescription medicines are less costly than in the United States.