"San Ignacio, Belize: Mountains and Maya... " a San Ignacio Travel Page by Icemaiden02

Belize, formerly known as British Honduras, is a small nation on the eastern coast of Central America, bordered by Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west and south. Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America. Everything is small-scale in Belize: the biggest hotels rarely have more than a couple of dozen rooms. The Maya civilization spread over Belize between 1500 BC and 300 AD and flourished until about 900 AD. European settlement began with British Jews, privateers and shipwrecked English seamen.

The north of Belize consists mostly of flat, swampy coastal plains. The west contains low mountain range of the Maya Mountains. The Carribean coast on the east is lined with a coral reef and some 450 cayes forming the second longest barrier reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef off Australia).