Economy
The capital of the district is Orange Walk Town, with an estimated population of 13,400 . The district is home to mostly Maya mestizo descendants of Mexican refugees who fled from the 1840 Caste War. The district's main economic base is drawn from agriculture, with sugar cane being the primary crop. This is slowly being replaced by a combination of alternative crops such potatoes, onions and soya 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 German speaking Amish Mennonites. The district is also the home of two rivers, the Rio Hondo, which also forms part of the border with Mexico, and the New River, which has as its source Belize's largest body of water, the New River Lagoon.
Read more about this topic: Orange Walk District
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Everyone is always in favour of general economy and particular expenditure.”
—Anthony, Sir Eden (1897–1977)
“The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get “a good job,” but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)