Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...

's 6

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

are politically divided into 31 constituencies. Each constituency sends one representative to Belize's House of Representatives for 5-year terms. This election is known as the General Election. Each person (who is eligible to vote) votes for the candidate they would want to represent their constituency in Central Government. Each political party nominates a candidate or Standard Bearer for each constituency. The winner becomes the Area Representative of the constituency, while the loser generally remains the Standard Bearer of that constituency for his/her political party.

Division of constituencies

Belize's constituencies are divided in 31, such a way that their voting population be as equal as possible to each other ensuring, theoretically, that resources are equally shared among the country's citizens, as required by the constitution. After the 2003 General Elections two additional constituencies were created from territory of existing constituencies in order to further ensure the equality of the voting populations among the constituencies. Coming out of January 2008, the most populous constituency (Stann Creek West) had a voting population of 7,085 while the least populous constituency (Fort George) had a voting population of 3,195.January 2008 Estimate

New constituencies

In Belize's 2003 General Elections, 29 constituencies voted in their Area Representatives for Belize's House of Representatives. Since then it was noted that the difference in voting populations between the most and least populous constituencies was rather large (Cayo South then had 8,000 voters compared to Pickstock's 1000+). In 2004 a Task Force was appointed by the

Elections and Boundaries Commission The Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission is the primary electoral body in Belize. It supervises all local and national elections. The commission also establishes the boundaries of Belize's electoral divisions. Formation and duties The EBC w ...

to study the matter. Thei
Final Report
was submitted in October 2004. It is noted that the Elections and Boundaries Department has the right to occasionally reassess constituencies, usually after the latest census or population estimate. Among several things that their report suggested, the expansion of the Cayo District's number of constituencies to six (from four) had the most impact. Later the following year (2005) the law was passed to create two additional constituencies within the boundaries of Cayo. The newly created constituencies are Belmopan, containing the capital city of that name, and Cayo North East, centered on

Spanish Lookout Spanish Lookout is a settlement in the Cayo District of Belize in Central America. According to the 2010 census, Spanish Lookout had a population of 2,253 people in 482 households. Spanish Lookout is a community of Mennonites. The Mennonite comm ...

. These new constituencies held their first-ever election during the

General Election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

in 2008.

List of Belize's constituencies by district

Below are the Districts and their respective constituencies: * Belize District ** Albert ** Belize Rural Central ** Belize Rural North **

Belize Rural South Belize Rural South is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Andre Perez of the People's United Party (PUP). Founding and creation outh con ...

Caribbean Shores Caribbean Shores is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2015 by Kareem Musa of the People's United Party. Profile The Caribbean Shores constituency ...

Collet A collet is a segmented sleeve, band or ''collar''. One of the two radial surfaces of a collet is usually tapered (i.e a truncated cone) and the other is cylindrical. The term ''collet'' commonly refers to a type of chuck that uses collets t ...

** Fort George **

Freetown Freetown is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educ ...

** Lake Independence **

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

** Pickstock **

Port Loyola Port Loyola is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize The National Assembly is the bicameral legislature of the nation of Belize. It is divided into the ...

** Queen's Square *

Cayo District Cayo District is a district located in the west part of Belize. It is the most extensive, second-most populous and third-most densely populated of the six districts of Belize. The district's capital is the town of San Ignacio. Geography Being ...

Belmopan Belmopan () is the capital city of Belize. Its population in 2010 was 16,451. In addition to being the smallest capital city in the continental Americas by population, Belmopan is the third-largest settlement in Belize, behind Belize City and S ...

Cayo Central Cayo Central is an electoral constituency in the Cayo District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Alex Balona of the People's United Party (PUP). Profile The Cayo Central constituency wa ...

Cayo North Cayo North is an electoral constituency in the Cayo District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize by Michel Chebat of the People’s United Party (PUP). Profile The Cayo North constituency was created f ...

Cayo North East Cayo North East is an electoral constituency in the Cayo District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2015 by Orlando Habet of the People's United Party. Profile Cayo North East includes the n ...

** Cayo South ** Cayo West *

Corozal District Corozal District is the northernmost district of the nation of Belize. The population was 33,894 in 2000. The district capital is Corozal Town. Pre-Columbian Maya ruins are found in Corozal at Santa Rita near Corozal Town, and at Cerros. To ...

Corozal Bay Corozal Bay is an inlet of Chetumal Bay, indenting northern Belize. Several resort areas are located on the coast of the bay, most notably Corozal Town. The New River (Belize) flows north into the bay. The town of Consejo is located north-northea ...

** Corozal North ** Corozal South East ** Corozal South West * Orange Walk District ** Orange Walk Central **

Orange Walk East Orange Walk East is an electoral constituency in the Orange Walk District represented in the House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, ...

** Orange Walk North ** Orange Walk South *

Stann Creek District Stann Creek District is a district in the south east region of Belize. According to the 2010 census, the district had a population of 32,166 people. Its capital is the town of Dangriga, formerly known as "Stann Creek Town." Stann comes from "sta ...

** Dangriga ** Stann Creek West *

Toledo District Toledo District is the southernmost district in Belize, and Punta Gorda is the District capital. It is the second most developed region in the country (according to the Human Development Index (HDI)). The district has a diverse topography whic ...

Toledo East Toledo East is an electoral constituency in the Toledo District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2012 by Michael Espat of the People's United Party. Espat also served several non-consecutive te ...

Toledo West Toledo West is an electoral constituency in the Toledo District represented in the House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House ...

Voting population by constituency

Below is a list of the voting population by constituency as of March 2015, sorted out by districts for ease of reference. Note that these populations are for Belizean citizens who are eligible to vote and does not represent actual population. As of March 2015 the voting population of Belize is estimated at 148,026 while the total population is estimated at 301,300. The Voter Age Population (VAP), i.e. all persons over the age of eighteen, is 161,677, or 53.66% of the total population. Of these, more than 91 percent are actually registered. Males slightly outnumber females in the population, though the gap is noticeable in the larger urban areas such as Belize City, home to 10 constituencies.

Current Area Representatives

History

Below is the chronological order for the creation of Belize's current constituencies. *1954 **The following were the nine original constituencies created for the British Honduras Legislative Assembly: ***Belize District: Belize North, Belize Rural, Belize South, Belize West ***Cayo District: Cayo ***Corozal District: Corozal ***Orange Walk District: Orange Walk ***Stann Creek District: Stann Creek ***Toledo District: Toledo *1961 **In a major nationwide redistricting, all of the previous constituencies were abolished and replaced with the following, doubling the total number of constituencies to 18: ***Belize District: Albert, Belize Rural North, Belize Rural South, Collet, Fort George, Freetown, Mesopotamia, Pickstock ***Cayo District: Cayo North, Cayo South ***Corozal District: Corozal North, Corozal South ***Orange Walk District: Orange Walk North, Orange Walk South ***Stann Creek District: Stann Creek Town, Stann Creek Rural ***Toledo District: Toledo North, Toledo South *1973 **British Honduras officially renamed Belize. The British Honduras Legislative Assembly becomes the Belize House of Representatives. *1979 **The following were renamed: ***Stann Creek District: Stann Creek Town renamed Dangriga, Stann Creek Rural renamed Stann Creek West.General Elections 1979
,

Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission The Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission is the primary electoral body in Belize. It supervises all local and national elections. The commission also establishes the boundaries of Belize's electoral divisions. Formation and duties The EBC w ...

. (accessed 19 November 2014) *1984 **The following constituencies were created: ***Belize District: Caribbean Shores, Lake Independence, Queen's Square, Port Loyola ***Cayo District: Cayo Central, Cayo West ***Corozal District: Corozal Bay ***Orange Walk District: Orange Walk Central, Orange Walk East **The following were altered: ***Corozal District: Corozal South was split into Corozal South East and Corozal South West ***Toledo District: Toledo North and Toledo South were abolished, replaced by Toledo East and Toledo West *1993 **The following constituency was created: ***Belize District: Belize Rural Central *2008 **The following constituencies were created: ***Cayo District: Belmopan, Cayo North East

References

Belize Elections & Boundaries Department's Map of Belize's Constituencies

Government of Belize's Official WebsiteBoundary Re-districting
{{Articles on second-level administrative divisions of North American countries Government of Belize Subdivisions of Belize Belize 2