BELIZE

English was the official language in Belize, but other languages were commonplace.  The 1980 census revealed that slightly more than one-half  the population spoke English as their first language and approximately one-third spoke Spanish .  In the corozaland orange walk districts,  Spanish was the first language of 75%of the population,  and fewer than 20% spoke English by preference.  Smaller numbers spoke Mayan dialects, garifuna, and low German. The census also estimated that some 62% of all Belizeans were bilingual or trilingual. As many 80% of the population were able to speak English