David Mulet
[Type text]
5 March, 2013
DHP207: GIS for International Applications
Assignment 5
Introduction:
The following data sets will be used to produce a map in support of resolving the territorial dispute
between Guatemala and Belize. These two countries have been embroiled in a territorial and
maritime dispute since the 18th century, and in October this year (2013) both countries will hold
simultaneous referenda to decide whether or not to send the case to the International Court of
Justice to settle the dispute once and for all. From a policy strategy perspective this map will be
useful as a tool that will detail the disputed areas (on land and in the sea), including other relevant
information for someone who is to decide whether to take the case to court or not. The map will be
useful for both policymakers (governments of Guatemala and Belize) and for the citizens of both
countries who will vote in the referenda later this year. Using additional layers of information on
population density, divisions in terms of ethnicities, language, and socioeconomic indicators, the
map could be able to show and estimated "value" of the claimed lands, which would be very useful
as a tool in a cost-benefit analysis.
DATA SET 1: World Maritime Boundaries, Exclusive Economic Zones Boundaries (EEZ)
1. Brief description: This dataset represents Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the world. The
Flanders Marine Institute decided to develop its own database given the lack of free available
information. It includes two global GIS-layers: one contains polylines that represent the
maritime boundaries of the world countries, the other one is a polygon layer representing the
Exclusive Economic Zone of countries. Additionally, the database contains digital information
about treaties.
2. Name of the agency or organization that produced the map: Flanders Marine Institute
3. URL or contact address: http://www.marineregions.org/downloads.php
4. Publication date: November 20, 2012
5. Time period for which the data is presumed accurate: The Flanders Marine Institute
updates its information every year, so this shapefile is at its most current version (2012). They
provide a document detailing every change made in the data set from year to year.
6. Data format: In this data set, the World EEZ shapefile is a Raster file, and the World Maritime
Boundaries shapefile is a Vector file.
7. Source scale: Not known, there is no metadata attached.
8. Description of the key attribute information: This dataset provides key information on the
maritime boundaries between sovereign countries. The key attributes are the EEZ (polygons),
the “sovereign” (country), and the boundaries between them.
David Mulet
[Type text]
5 March, 2013
9. Map
DATA SET 2: Population and Populated Places
1. Brief description: This dataset represents the populated places in Belize and the population
size in each of these localities. The purpose of its creation is unknown.
2. Name of the agency or organization that produced the map: It was created by Jan Meerman
as a layer package on ArcGIS Online.
3. URL or contact address: In ArcMap I found the layer package under the ArcGIS Online
resources by typing “Belize population”.
4. Publication date: September 9, 2010
5. Time period for which the data is presumed accurate: The layer package was last updated
in 2010. It can be presumed more or less accurate as population size has probably increased
slightly since then.
6. Data format: A Vector Shapefile.
7. Source scale: It was created using the International Travelers Map of Belize (1:350.000) and
2001 CSO Abstract of Statistics, and the author’s own point data. Since the data is from 2001, I
can manually update this information by merging more recent statistics found in various
sources.
David Mulet
[Type text]
5 March, 2013
8. Description of the key attribute information: This dataset provides key information on the
population size and on the specific locality (point) on the map.
9. Map
DATA SET 3: Disputed Areas
1. Brief description: This dataset represents the land (continental and islands) in Belize claimed
by Guatemala. The purpose of its creation is unknown.
2. Name of the agency or organization that produced the data set or map: Natural Earth Data
3. URL or contact address: http://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-culturalvectors/10m-admin-0-breakaway-disputed-areas/
4. Publication date: October 12, 2012
5. Time period for which the data is presumed accurate: The data set is presumed accurate
since the date it was produced. The last update made to the data prior to this one was done on
19 August, 2011.
6. Data format: A Raster Shapefile.
7. Source scale: 1:10,000,000
David Mulet
[Type text]
5 March, 2013
8. Description of the key attribute information: This dataset provides key information on the
territorial claim area (polygon), country, and includes additional useful information such as
population and GDP.
9. Map
DATA SET 4: Reefs
1. Brief description: This dataset shows the location of major reefs of the world. This is
important information since any territorial dispute settlement mechanism would benefit from
knowing the location of reefs that represent major tourism and other opportunities for a
country.
2. Name of the agency or organization that produced the map: Natural Earth Data
3. URL or contact address: http://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-physicalvectors/10m-reefs/
4. Publication date: October 12, 2012
5. Time period for which the data is presumed accurate: The data set is presumed accurate
since the date it was produced. The last update made to the data prior to this one was done on
19 August, 2011.
6. Data format: A Vector Shapefile.
David Mulet
[Type text]
5 March, 2013
7. Source scale: 1:10,000,000
8. Description of the key attribute information: This dataset provides key information on the
location of reefs in Belize.
9. Map
DATA SET 5: Population and Ethnicity
1. Brief description: This tabular dataset shows the population of each municipality by ethnicity
of Belize. The difference in the composition of Belizean society versus Guatemala’s is vast in
terms of ethnicity and language. These elements must be considered in a cost-benefit analysis.
The table was created by the Statistical Institute of Belize as a product of their most recent
Population and Housing Census, done in 2010.
2. Name of the agency or organization that produced the data set: Statistical Institute of Belize
3. URL or contact address: http://www.statisticsbelize.org.bz/dms20uc/Main.asp
4. Publication date: May 3, 2011
5. Time period for which the data is presumed accurate: The table was last updated with 2010
census data. It can be presumed more or less accurate as population size and composition has
probably changed slightly since then.
6. Data format: Tabular data, easily converted to an Excel file to merge into ArcMap.
David Mulet
[Type text]
5 March, 2013
7. Source scale: Not applicable
8. Description of the key attribute information: This dataset provides key information on the
location of the most populated areas in the country, and more importantly the composition of
the ethnic groups within Belizean territory.
9. Image