Belize

In pre-Columbian times Belize was part of the territory of the Maya. It was included in the viceroyalty of New Spain in the 1500s, and sometime later English woodcutters from Jamaica established a settlement on the Belize River. During the wars between England and Spain in the 1700s, Spain failed to dislodge the British from the area. In 1836, after the emancipation of Central America from Spanish rule, the British claimed the right to administer the region; it was declared a British colony, subordinate to Jamaica, in 1862 and an independent crown colony in 1884.

The Maya built breathtaking temple complexes aligned to the movement of celestial bodies. Although they remained technically a Stone Age culture, they also developed sophisticated mathematics, astronomy and calendars. The Spanish constructed some plain stone churches, but the modern architecture is predominantly British Caribbean in style.

World Factbook 2002
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