>Joofjoof at 19:42, 14 October 2021

2021-10-14T19:42:44Z

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{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Indo-Belizeans
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| flag = {{flagicon|India}} {{flagicon|Belize}}
| total = 7,000-8,000
| total_year = January 2016
| total_source = estimate
| total_ref = <ref>{{cite web|title=India - Belize Relations|url=https://www.mea.gov.in/Portal/ForeignRelation/Belize_11_01_2016.pdf|website=Ministry of External Affairs|access-date=6 February 2017|date=January 2016}}</ref>
| genealogy =
| regions = [[Toledo District]]{{·}}[[Corozal District]]{{·}}[[Belize City]]
| languages = [[Caribbean Hindustani]] (spoken by the original Indian indentured immigrants and to a lesser extent spoken by their descendants)

[[Hindustani language|Standard Hindustani (Hindi–Urdu)]]{{·}}[[Sindhi language|Sindhi]]{{·}}[[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]{{·}}[[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]{{·}}[[Kutchi language|Kutchi]]{{·}}[[Bengali language|Bengali]]{{·}}[[Tamil language|Tamil]]{{·}}[[Telugu language|Telugu]] (spoken by more recent immigrants and their descendants)<br/>

[[Belizean Kriol language|Kriol]]{{·}}[[English language|English]]{{·}}[[Spanish language|Spanish]] (common languages spoken in Belize)
| religions = [[Hinduism]]{{·}}[[Christianity]]{{·}}[[Islam]]
| related_groups = [[Indo-Caribbeans]]{{·}}[[Indian people]]{{·}}[[Indian diaspora]]
| footnotes =
}}
'''Indo-Belizeans''', also known as '''East Indian Belizeans''', are citizens of [[Belize]] of [[Indian people|Indian]] ancestry. The community made up 3.9% of the population of Belize in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/belize/|title=The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov}}</ref> They are part of the wider [[Indo-Caribbean]] community, which itself is a part of the global [[Indian diaspora]].

== History and demographics ==
Indians began arriving in Belize in the 1880s as part of the [[Indian indenture system]] set up by the [[British Raj|British Indian]] government after slavery was abolished. Initially coming in as indentured, many of them stayed on to work the sugar plantations and were joined by other Indian immigrants. Indians are spread out over many villages and towns primarily in the Corozal and Toledo districts and live in reasonably compact rural communities. They are fairly well integrated into the Belizean population through intermarriage. However, they are still identifiable through their physiognomy and are known as 'Hindus'. These set of Indians were almost entirely composed of people from the [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]] region, [[Awadh]] region, and other places in the [[Hindi Belt|Hindustani Belt]] in [[North India]]. A minority of indentured laborers were from [[South India]] and other regions throughout [[South Asia]].

In 1907, the Canadian Government made an unsuccessful attempt to transfer Indian independence activists residing in the province of British Columbia to Belize (then known as [[British Honduras]]). A Canadian delegation led by the chief clerk of the Canadian Ministry of the Interior Harkin, and a small Indian delegation including Teja Singh traveled to British Honduras in November 1907 to determine if conditions were suitable for the move. Upon his return to Canada, Teja Singh stated that Indians were being sent to Honduras for slave-labour and claimed that Canadian officials had attempted to bribe the Indian delegation to secure a positive report. The Canadian government blamed Teja Singh's statements for the failure of the proposed transfer.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Andrew|first1=Christopher M.|last2=Noakes|first2=Jeremy|title=Intelligence and International Relations, 1900-1945|year=1987|publisher=University of Exeter Press|isbn=9780859892438|page=57|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z5Q_WpiT9ocC|access-date=19 April 2017|language=en}}</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[Payal Ghanwani]], the first Indo-Belizean [[Senate (Belize)|Senator]]
*[[Nora Parham]], only Belizean woman to be executed
*[[Doug Singh]], politician
*[[George Singh]], former [[Chief Justice of Belize|Chief Justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of Belize]]<ref name="News519980202">{{cite news|url=http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/25393|title=Chief and two new justices sworn in|work=News 5 Belize|date=1998-02-02|access-date=2012-04-20}}</ref>
*[[Lutchman Sooknandan]], twice [[Director of Public Prosecutions (Belize)|Director of Public Prosecutions]], a native of Guyana born to a father from [[Kolkata]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2011/09/25/the-arts-forum-13/|first=Adele|last=Ramos|title=Book Review: From Bengal to Bushlot to Belize|work=Kaieteur News|date=2011-09-25|access-date=2012-04-20}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Belize#Demographics]]
*[[Hinduism in Belize]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[http://www.amandala.com.bz/index.php?id=5336 The facts about East Indians]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175035/http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter19.pdf Indian Diaspora in South America/ Belize]

{{NRI-PIO}}
{{Belize topics}}
{{Ethnic groups in Belize}}

[[Category:Asian Belizean]]
[[Category:Belizean people of Indian descent| ]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Belize|Indians]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora by country|Belize]]
[[Category:Indo-Caribbean]]

{{Belize-stub}}

Indo-Belizeans - Revision history

>Joofjoof at 19:42, 14 October 2021