Dangriga, formerly known as Stann Creek Town, is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in southern

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern 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 maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

, located on the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

coast at the mouth of the North Stann Creek River. It is the capital of Belize's

Stann Creek District Stann Creek is a district in the south east region of Belize. According to the 2022 census, the district had a population of 48,162 people. Its capital is the town of Dangriga, formerly known as "Stann Creek Town." Stann comes from "stanns," or s ...

. Dangriga is served by the Dangriga Airport. Commonly known as the "culture capital of Belize" due to its influence on

punta Punta is an Afro-Indigenous dance and cultural music deeply rooted in the cultural traditions of the Garifuna of Honduras. It heavily incorporates West African/Central African drumming, the dance primarily of Angola and Congo origins. The musi ...

music and other forms of

Garifuna The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and traditionally speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language. The Garifuna ...

culture, Dangriga is the largest settlement in southern Belize.Stann Creek Belize - Home Of Culture Capital Dangriga
Belize.com. (accessed 21 June 2015)

History

Dangriga, declared a town 15 February 1895, was settled before 1832 by Garinagu (Black Caribs, as they were known to the British) from

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. For years, it was the second largest population centre in the country behind

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize. It was once the capital city, capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2022 census, Belize City has a population of 63,999 people. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, which is a ...

, but in recent years has been surpassed by San Ignacio,

Belmopan Belmopan () is the capital city of Belize. Its population in 2010 was 16,451. Belmopan is the smallest capital city in the continental Americas (by population) and the third-largest settlement in Belize, behind Belize City and San Ignacio. Fou ...

and Orange Walk Town. Since the early 1980s, Garífuna culture has undergone a revival, as part of which the town's name of Dangriga, a Garífuna word meaning "standing waters", became more widely used (but was initially adopted around 1975).

Demographics

The population is mostly a mixture of Garinagu, Kriols and

Mestizos ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to ...

. According to the Statistical Institute of Belize, Dangriga's population in 2010 was 8,767 – 4,302 males and 4,465 females.

Culture

Dangriga is home to the

, a cultural and ethnic group, descendants of shipwrecked slaves and native Caribs. The Garifuna have adopted the Carib language but kept their

African music The continent of Africa is vast and its music is diverse, with different regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres like makwaya, highlife, mbube, township music, jùjú, fuji, jaiva ...

al and religious traditions, while holding a central place in the history of the

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Catholic education Catholic education may refer to: * Catholic school, primary and secondary education organised by the Roman Catholic Church or affiliated organisations * Catholic higher education, higher education run by the Catholic Church or affiliated organisat ...

in Belize. Dangriga is also where the Caribbean music,

Punta Rock Punta rock, or Belizean punta, is a form of Garifuna music originating in Belize and created by Pen Cayetano. Songs are usually sung in Belizean Kriol or Garifuna and rarely in Spanish or English. Many Garifuna American artists and bands pe ...

, originated and where some of Belize's folk bands can be found. In November, each year, there is a week-long festivity leading up to Garifuna Settlement Day, attended by Garifuna people from around the region. It includes a torchlit parade and wreath-laying ceremony at the monument of the patriot and social activist Thomas Vincent Ramos, selection of Miss Garifuna, parades and special church services, and The T.V. Ramos Classic Bike Race. The 19 November is Garifuna Settlement Day.

Attractions

* Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, located southwest of Dangriga. *Mayflower Archeological Reserve, consisting of three ruins, two waterfalls and a view of Hopkins village as well as of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

. *Dangriga is also a mainland access point to popular cayes in Southern Belize, including Tobacco Caye and Royal Belize.

Healthcare

The city is served by Southern Regional Hospital.

Notable residents

* Arlie Petters, mathematician and astrophysicist *

Pen Cayetano Delvin "Pen" Cayetano (born 1954) is a Belizean artist and musician. Early life and career Cayetano was born in 1954 in Dangriga Town, Stann Creek District, Belize. Cayetano is self-taught in the art of painting and music and claims his infl ...

, artist and musician residing in Germany. Originator of Punta Rock. *

Maxime Faget Maxime Allen "Max" Faget (pronounced ''fah-ZHAY''; August 26, 1921 – October 9, 2004) was an American mechanical engineer. Faget was the designer of the Mercury spacecraft, and contributed to the later Gemini and Apollo spacecraft as we ...

, designer of the Mercury capsule, and contributed to the later Gemini and Apollo spacecraft as well as the Space Shuttle. * T. V. Ramos,

civil rights activist from Puerto Cortez, Honduras. * Osmond P. Martin, first native Belizean Catholic bishop. * Rakeem Nuñez-Roches,

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

References

External links

*
About 100 photos with Garifuna, from early 20th century

Dangriga Tourism Website

Gallery

File:Grigadan.JPG, Dangriga main street File:Grigadan3.JPG, Garifuna Gulisi Museum File:Grigadan2.JPG, "Drums of Our Fathers" Monument Belize-dangriga.jpg, Dangriga, Belize Streets of Dangriga {{Authority control Populated places in Stann Creek District Dangriga (Belize House constituency) Government of Belize Garifuna communities