Story about the Capital of Belize
The history of Belize, and in particular the capital of Belize, is an fascinating story of a capital being created and not one that expanded over time. It is also a story of how weather can play a large role in the development of a country.
After the Hattie Hurricane in 1961, with winds of up to 300 kilometres per hour, and following the destruction of most of the then capital – Belize City, it was decided to encourage the construction of a new capital city. There are a couple things that the government was looking for in a new capital – a location away from the coast on better terrain that was less likely to be affected by hurricanes, a place with low-priced land, and an area for industrial projects. A later a committee choose a new place now known as Belmopan. Since Belize was still a British colony at the time, a delegation was sent to the England to obtain financing for the Belmopan. The first response from the UK government was positive because it made sense to relocate the capital inland as a safe guard against severe weather; however, the UK government was not ready to commit funds on the project. A representative of the British government was encouraged to travel to Belize in an effort to get the necessary financial commitment.
The British government did send a representative that gave an implied commitment to the building of a new capital of Belize – Belmopan. The name Belmopan was derived from the combination of “Belize” – the longest|river the country – and “Mopan” – one of the rivers in the area. Although only half of the necessary 20 million U.S. dollars was raised, work began on the new capital in 1967 and the initial phase of development was completed a few years later. The city has been growing and becoming more established ever since then.
One of the things that has lead to the growth of Belmopan is Belize immigration. People from the other countries have come to Belmopan and, in many cases, moved to the periphery of the capital to establish homes,households. As the city has grown over time these communities have become part of Belmopan Belize and have lead to it being one of the most culturally diverse parts of the country.
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