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See also: principal seaport of See also: British See also: Honduras, on the Caribbean See also: Sea, in 17° 29' N. and 88° W
.
Pop
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(1904) 9969
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See also: Belize occupies both See also: banks of the See also: river Belize, at its mouth
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Its houses are generally built of See also: wood, with high See also: roofs and wide verandahs shaded by cocoanut or See also: cabbage palms
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The principal buildings are the See also: court See also: house, in the centre of the See also: town, See also: government house, at the See also: southern end, Fort See also: George, towards the See also: north, the British See also: bank of Honduras, the hospital, the See also: Roman Catholic convent, and the Wesleyan See also: church, which is the largest and handsomest of all
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See also: Mangrove swamps surround the town and epidemics of cholera, yellow fever and other tropical diseases have been frequent; but the unhealthiness of the See also: climate is mitigated to some extent by the high tides which cover the marshes, and the invigorating breezes which See also: blow in from the sea
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Belize is connected by telegraph and telephone with the other chief towns of British Honduras, but there is no railway, and communication even by road is defective
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The exports are See also: mahogany, See also: rosewood, See also: cedar, logwood and other See also: cabinet-woods and dye-woods, with cocoanuts, See also: sugar, See also: sarsaparilla, See also: tortoiseshell, deerskins, turtles and fruit, especially bananas
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Breadstuffs, See also: cotton fabrics and hardware are imported
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Belize probably derives its name from the French balise, " a beacon,'.' as no doubt some See also: signal or See also: light was raised here for the guidance of the See also: buccaneers who once infested this region
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See also: Local tradition connects the name with that of See also: Wallis or See also: Wallace, a Scottish buccaneer, who, in 1638, settled, with a party of logwood cutters, on St George's Cay, a small See also: island off the town
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In the 18th century the names Wallis and Belize were used interchangeably for the town, the river and the whole country . TheSee also: history of Belize is inextricably bound up with that of the rest of British Honduras (q. v.)
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