Geographic Information System

The Geographic Information Systems Unit (GIS) was established at the Statistical Institute of Belize to employ the latest techniques of Geographical Information Systems in the work of the National Statistics Office to achieve its strategy and general purposes.

The Geographical Information Systems (GIS) unit mainly serves the requirements of census and survey operations in the provision and updating of maps. These maps are then systematically coded and digitized for the update of the geo-referenced dwelling frame. The objective of such a frame is that it provides an up-to-date sampling frame needed for conducting household based surveys and censuses.

A quality census starts with clearly locating all dwellings in the country. This enables every household to be visited, thus ensuring complete coverage of every person in all parts of the country. The geo-referenced dwelling frame provides the location of each dwelling and is used for the delineation of enumeration areas.

The GIS unit is presently engaged with the compilation and printing of Enumeration Maps for the Population and Housing Census exercise. Additionally, it is also imperative that a process of continuous maintenance be put in place to ensure a complete and updated frame for future household and economic surveys.

Future endeavors of this unit include the implementation of a Geoserver, a web map service to share social, economic and demographic information with the stakeholders.