Cayo District

Cayo District is a district in the west of the nation of Belize. The District capital is the town of San Ignacio.

Geography

The Cayo District is the largest district in Belize. Within the Cayo District are the national capital of Belmopan, the district capital of San Ignacio, the town of Benque Viejo del Carmen, and the villages of San Antonio Cayo, Valley of Peace, St. Margaret's, Roaring Creek, Armenia, San Jose Succotz, Arenal, Buena Vista, Calla Creek, Esperanza, Cristo Rey, Georgeville, Unitedville, Blackman Eddy, Ontario, Camalote, Los Tambos, More Tomorrow and Spanish Lookout. Cayo District also contains the Pre-Columbian Maya ruins of Xunantunich, Cahal Pech, Chaa Creek, and Caracol. Major rivers in the Cayo District include the Macal River and the Mopan River.

Importance and location

The Cayo District is primarily an agricultural district, with the chief crops being citrus, (oranges, grapefruit, and tangerine), as well as bananas. Recently oil was found in Spanish Lookout and is now in production. There are 2 major highways in the District. The Western Highway runs from Belize City to the Guatemalan border, and the Hummingbird Highway which starts in Belmopan and ends at the juncture of the Coastal Road and the Southern Highway in the Stann Creek District. In addition to the ruins listed above there are several other important nature reserves including two National Parks, Blue Hole (park) and Guanacaste National Park. Ecotourism is also an integral part of the region's economy.

According to the 2000 census, Cayo District had a population of 53,715 people.

Political divisions

Politically, Cayo is divided into six constituencies, described in detail here:

* Belmopan: Containing the capital and surrounding suburbs; newly created. Its standard bearers are Cayo South representative John Saldivar (UDP) and Rolando Zetina of the PUP.
* Cayo Northeast: Another new constituency centered on Spanish Lookout. The UDP's Elvin Penner and the PUP's Orlando Habet will decide this seat in 2008.
* Cayo North: Current representative Ainslie Leslie.
* Cayo Central: Current representative Mario Castellanos.
* Cayo West: The UDP's Erwin Contreras, former footballer, is the standing rep for this seat.
* Cayo South: Currently held by John Saldivar of the UDP; Ramon Witz will contest here in 2008 due to Saldivar's jump to Belmopan.

Archaeological sites

A number of important Mayan archaeological sites lie within the Cayo District. Among these are Xunantunich, Chaa Creek [ [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18170 C.Michael Hogan, "Chaa Creek", Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham, 2007] ] and Cahal Pech. [ [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/pia/pv11990/pv1awe.htm Distribution of Early Middle Formative Period Sites] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.belize.net/html/maps/cayomap.shtml Map]