Belize

The land was a heartland of the ancient Maya. Cities such as Caracol, Lamanai, Xunantunich, and Altun Ha flourished for centuries, and Caracol at its height held more people than live in Belize City today. The Spanish never effectively settled the swampy, reef-guarded coast, leaving a gap that English and Scottish buccaneers and logwood cutters — the "Baymen" — filled from the 1600s, working enslaved Africans in the forest.

The territory became the colony of British Honduras in 1862. In 1798 a Spanish fleet was beaten off at the Battle of St. George's Caye, still marked as a national holiday. A labour movement and constitutional reform led to internal self-government in 1964 under George Price, the founding leader, and to independence — with a change of name to Belize — in 1981.

Guatemala has long claimed all or part of the country, and British troops remained until 1994 as a deterrent; the dispute is now before the International Court of Justice, with both countries having voted to send it there. Tourism, along with agriculture and offshore services, has become the mainstay of a small economy.

Belize is unusually diverse for its size. The Creole population, of Afro-European descent, gave the country its widely spoken Kriol language; Mestizos, many descended from refugees of the nineteenth-century Caste War of Yucatán, are now the largest group and keep Spanish and the food of the region alive. Three Maya peoples — Yucatec, Mopan, and Q'eqchi' — farm the west and south.

The Garifuna, descendants of Carib and African people exiled from St. Vincent in 1797, arrived in 1802 and settled the southern coast at Dangriga, Hopkins, and Punta Gorda. Their language, drumming, and ceremonies are recognised by UNESCO, and Garifuna Settlement Day on 19 November is one of the country's biggest celebrations. German-speaking Mennonite colonies, established from the 1950s, supply much of the country's dairy and poultry.

The national mood is famously unhurried — Caye Caulker's motto is "Go Slow" — and Christian, with Catholic and evangelical churches side by side. Punta and punta rock, both Garifuna-derived, are the home-grown music.

With around 410,000 people, Belize has the smallest population in Central America and one of the lowest densities. Belize City, on the coast, is the largest town and commercial hub; the capital, Belmopan, was built inland after Hurricane Hattie levelled Belize City in 1961. Most people live in a scatter of towns and villages along the highways and rivers.

The economy runs on tourism, sugar, citrus, bananas, and increasingly on services, with a large slice of activity informal or cross-border. Many families have relatives in the United States, and remittances matter. English-language schooling and a British-style legal and political system set Belize apart from its Spanish-speaking neighbours.

Coastal life is shaped by fishing, the reef, and the weather; inland, by farming, the forest, and the tourist lodges of the Cayo district. Hurricane season, June to November, is watched every year.

The everyday staple is "rice and beans" — cooked together with coconut milk — or "beans and rice" served separately, alongside stewed chicken, fried plantain, and potato salad. "Boil up," a Creole one-pot of ground provisions, fish or pig tail, and egg, is a weekend dish.

Each community adds its own table. The Garifuna make hudut, fish in a coconut broth with mashed plantain, and ereba, cassava bread; Mestizo cooks turn out garnaches, salbutes, escabeche, and tamales; the Maya keep to caldo and hand-made corn tortillas. The reef supplies conch, lobster (in season from mid-June), and snapper.

Marie Sharp's habanero sauce, made in the Stann Creek valley, is a national emblem and on every table. Belikin is the national beer, One Barrel the local rum, and a seaweed shake the traditional pick-me-up.

The reef and the cayes are the main draw. Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley off Ambergris Caye offer easy snorkelling; the Great Blue Hole and the offshore atolls — Turneffe, Lighthouse, Glover's — are classic dives; and whale sharks gather seasonally off Gladden Spit. Caye Caulker is the budget base, Ambergris the busier one.

Inland, the Maya sites reward the effort: Caracol, deep in the Chiquibul forest; Xunantunich, reached by a hand-cranked ferry, with its tall "El Castillo" pyramid; Lamanai, approached by boat up the New River; and Altun Ha, the closest to Belize City. The Actun Tunichil Muknal cave — a wet trek past Maya offerings to a calcified skeleton called the "Crystal Maiden" — is often rated among the best cave experiences anywhere.

The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary was the world's first jaguar preserve, and Mountain Pine Ridge has waterfalls, swimming holes, and the Rio Frio cave. Placencia and Hopkins have the mainland's best beaches, and the Belize Zoo, home to rescued native animals, is a genuine attraction in its own right.