Orange Walk District | |
|---|---|
 Orange Walk and its neighbors[a] Location in Belize | |
| Country |  Belize |
| Capital | Orange Walk Town |
| Area | |
• Total | 4,737 km2 (1,829 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 55,622 |
| • Density | 11.74/km2 (30.41/sq mi) |
| ISO 3166 code | BZ-OW |
| Website | www |
Orange Walk is adistrict in the northwest of the nation ofBelize, with its district capital inOrange Walk Town.
The Orange Walk District, with an area of 1,829 square miles (4,636 square km), is located north-northwest of theBelize District. This is the second largest district in terms of total area in comparison to other districts in Belize, and lies between the Belize andCorozal districts to the east, Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west. Villages in Orange Walk District includeAugust Pine Ridge,Blue Creek,Carmelita, Chan Pine Ridge,Douglas,Indian Church,Guinea Grass,San Antonio,San Carlos,San Estevan,San Felipe,San José,San Jose Palmar,Nuevo San Juan,San Lazaro,San Luis,San Pablo,San Román,Santa Cruz,Santa Martha,Shipyard,Trial Farm,Trinidad andYo Creek. Other settlements with smaller numbers of inhabitants may also be found, as well as ancient Mayan sites such as Cuello,Lamanai, Noh Mul and Chan Chich. TheRio Bravo Conservation and Management Area, a large private nature reserve in theYalbac Hills, is also located in this district. The land is highly cultivated with sugar cane, sorghum, rice, corn and vegetables, with a significant amount of this agriculture done byMennonite farmers.
According to the[3] Statistical Institute of Belize, the Orange Walk District had an estimatedpopulation of 45,419 persons for the 2010 population and housing census; 13,400 of these persons lived in the urban area of Orange Walk Town while 32,019 lived in rural areas.
| Ethnicity | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010[4] | 2022[5] | |||
| % | Number | % | Number | % |
| Mestizo | 34,616 | 77.26% | 43,236 | 79.84% |
| European: * German (Mennonite) * British (Anglo-Celtic) | 4,950 4,852 98 | 11.05% 10.83% 0.22% | 5,921 5,831 90 | 10.94% 10.77% 0.17% |
| Creole | 2,402 | 5.36% | 3,412 | 6.30% |
| Garifuna | 262 | 0.58% | 311 | 0.57% |
| Qʼeqchi Maya | 72 | 0.16% | 188 | 0.34% |
| Chinese/Asian | 344 | 0.77% | 170 | 0.31% |
| East Indian | 159 | 0.35% | 163 | 0.30% |
| Yucatec Maya | 164 | 0.37% | 109 | 0.20% |
| Mopan Maya | 237 | 0.53% | 105 | 0.19% |
| Other | 243 | 0.54% | 281 | 0.52% |
| Not stated | – | – | 257 | 0.47% |
| Mixed | 1,355 | 2.98% | – | – |
| Total | 44,804 | 100% | 54,152 | 100% |
In the Orange Walk District, Spanish, Kriol and English are the most spoken languages. TheMennonite community, which is almost 11% of the district's population, speaks primarily aGerman dialect, calledPlautdietsch. In many villagesYucatec Maya is still spoken by elders.
The capital of the district is Orange Walk Town, with an estimated population of 13,400.[6] The district is home to mostlyMayamestizo descendants of Mexican refugees who fled from the 1840Caste War. The district's main economic base is drawn fromagriculture, withsugar cane being the primary crop. This is slowly being replaced by a combination of alternative crops suchpotatoes,onions andsoya beans. Orange Walk is also important for its production of dairy products, citrus fruits, beef and rum production.
Another emerging industry is tourism due to healthy populations of tropical wildlife and the rich archaeological sites now coming to light. There are over 400 recorded bird species in the district, making Orange Walk a birdwatcher's paradise. Several settlements in the district are also home to conservative German speakingMennonites. The district is also the home of two rivers, theRio Hondo, which also forms part of the border withMexico, and theNew River, which has as its source Belize's largest body of water, the New River Lagoon.
Industry in Orange Walk was previously dominated by logging for over a hundred years until the refugees of the Caste War arrived in the late 19th century. At the time of logging, all the timber was floated down the New River into the Corozal Bay, then to Belize City and shipped abroad. At the time of the arrival of the Caste War refugees, the logging industry was in decline and eventually thesugar industry was established. There has been evidence that some Yucatec Maya were still living in a remote area of Yalbac hills of the district when the British arrived in the Orange walk District.
Although the Orange Walk District has no coast because it is locked inland, it boasts the remains of two forts, Forts Mundy and Cairns, built by soldiers of the British Honduras West India Regiment. The forts were built in the 19th century after battles between earlier Mayan inhabitants of the district, most notablyMarcus Canul and his Icaiche Indians, and settlers.[7][8]
Politically, Orange Walk is divided into 4constituencies, three currently under thePeople's United Party (PUP) and one under theUnited Democratic Party (UDP).
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