Belize has more in common with the Caribbean island-states than with its Central American neighbors. This is reflected in its major languages, English and Creole, and in its mainly Anglo-Caribbean architecture and its relatively non-violent political culture. It also has peoples and cultures found elsewhere in the Americas – Spanish-speaking Mestizos, who are of mixed Maya Indian and European ancestry, Creoles, who speak a Creole dialect of English and who are often of African and African-European extraction, and Garifuna, who are the descendants of Caribindians and Africans.

Islands fringe Belize’s barrier reef, one of the world”s largest, Belize, formerly known as British Honduras, was the UK”s last colony on the American mainland. Its independence was delayed until 1981 by long-running tension with neighboring Guatemala, which claims a large portion of its territory. In common with many Caribbean economies, the service sector has overtaken agriculture, fishing and forestry. Tourism, a major source of foreign currency, is sustained by attractions which include abundant wildlife, Mayan ruins and one of the longest barrier reefs in the world.