Sarteneja is the largest fishing community and the second largest village in Belize. It recorded a population of 3,500 according to a 2016 estimate.
The name ''Sarteneja'' is a Castilian distortion of its original Mayan name ''Tza-ten-a-ha'', which means 'water between the rocks'.
Sarteneja is on the Sarteneja Peninsula, approximately forty miles by road from
Orange Walk Town and is near the privately owned
Shipstern Conservation & Management Area
Shipstern Conservation and Management Area (Shipstern C&MA) is a protected area located in the Corozal District of northeastern Belize.
Shipstern C&MA protects approximately 21.500 acres (c. 8.700 hectares or 87 km2) of a variety of habitats ...
. The village's economy is based primarily on fishing for
lobster
Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...
,
conch
Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends).
In North Am ...
, and
finfish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of liv ...
. There are many farmers, particularly retired fishermen who farm. Tourism is becoming increasingly significant as a source of income or at least as another alternative livelihood for those who no longer fish.
Demographics
At the time of the 2010 census, Sarteneja had a population of 1,824. Of these, 91.1% were
Mestizo
(; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...
, 3.6%
Mixed, 2.6%
Creole, 1.3%
Caucasian
Caucasian may refer to:
Anthropology
*Anything from the Caucasus region
**
**
** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region
*
*
*
Languages
* Northwest Caucasian l ...
, 0.3%
Mopan Maya, 0.3%
Asian, 0.2%
Ketchi Maya, 0.2%
Garifuna, 0.2%
Yucatec Maya, 0.1%
East Indian, 0.1%
Lebanese, 0.1%
African
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Ethn ...
and 0.1%
Mennonite.
In terms of languages spoken (multiple answers allowed), 97.6% spoke
Spanish, 49.6%
English, 5.4%
Creole, 0.4%
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
or
Cantonese, 0.4%
Mopan Maya, 0.2%
Garifuna, 0.2%
German, 0.2%
Yucatec Maya, 0.1%
Ketchi Maya, 0.1%
Hindi and 0.4% other languages; 0.2% could not speak.
[ Population & Housing Censu]
/ref>
Boatbuilding
Sarteneja is home to shipwrights who are still active, having built most of the traditional fishing boat fleet (visible in Haulover Creek in Belize city) and many of the tourist sailing boats, most notably: ''Sirena Azul'' (San Pedro), ''Ragga King'', ''Ragga Gial'', ''Blackhawk'' (Caye Caulker), ''Brujula'' (Hopkins), and ''Zayann''. One of the best known boat builders of Sarteneja is Evaristo Verde (Barich). Verde built more than 17 boats during his lifetime.
The Sarteneja Easter Regatta
Sarteneja is known for its Easter Regatta, which takes place every year on Easter Sunday when most of the village's fleet has returned during the fishing season break.
Gallery
File:Sarteneja, Belize, Central America.jpg
File:Sarteneja North Front.JPG, Sarteneja North Front at sunset
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in Corozal District
Corozal South East