The history of the country of Belize predates most other cultures and nations, starting with the Mayan civilization that developed in the lowlands of the Yucatan Peninsula close to three millennia ago. The Mayan civilization is still in existence today even though many of their contemporaries, such as the Aztecs and Incas, have long since disappeared. The Mayans were hunters and farmers, and the basics of their culture were founded between 2500 BC and 250 AD, with the civilization peaking between 250 and 950 AD. Much of the Belizean way of life known today is based on the culture developed by the Mayans, who contributed numerous medical, mathematical, and scientific discoveries.

The collapse of a culture that was involved in agriculture that included irrigation and slash and burn farming is still unexplained. The Mayan way of life was steeped in tradition and ceremony, with their priests observing the skies, developing complex calendar systems, and understanding the cycles of the Earth long before most others. They were accomplished craftspeople as well, and their engineering skills rivaled those of the Ancient Egyptians, as their temple ruins prove. When the Mayan society broke down around 900 AD, everything came to standstill with more than 400,000 Mayans inhabiting the country. The ruins that were left behind have given scholars the most insight into their ancient culture.

Little happened in Belize that is worthy of note until the 1500s, when the first Europeans came to Central America. There were still Mayans living in Belize during this time. The Spanish expeditions that visited Belize included explorers such as Juan De Solis, Christopher Columbus, and Martin Pinzon. Unfortunately, the country was ravaged by diseases introduced by the European explorers and settlers, and by the 1600s the Mayan population that was left fell to Spanish missionaries who built churches in the country in an attempt to convert and control them. Spain and England began to struggle over control of Belize during the height of piracy in the Caribbean, and it wasn’t until the Treaty of Versailles in 1783 that the fight for the rights to the natural resources in the country was settled.

As the British began to settle Belize, slaves were brought into the area from Africa. Many of the slaves were used for agricultural endeavors and timber cutting, but they did not appreciate the way they were treated and they openly let their owners know it. Those slaves that were able to escape disappeared into the Yucatan, traveling to Guatemala and other countries. Even though the slaves were emancipated in 1833, their owners continued to control the country for the next 100 years, denying the freed slaves land and economic freedom.

The British continued to move deeper into the Yucatan area of Belize, where they found major resistance from the Mayans. A formal colony was established in 1862, and through the next 60 years the British continued to tighten their hold on the country despite the protests of many indigenous peoples. Belize was devastated by the Great Depression of the 1930s, and its economy was destroyed by the hurricane that destroyed Belize Town in 1931. Both political parties in Belize were formed over the next twenty years, and even though things settled somewhat, strife still continued between the colony and England.

In 1981, England released its hold on Belize, and the country enjoyed its new-found independence. The first 20 years were rough politically for the country, but things have settled down. Dean Barrow, the current prime minister of Belize, was elected into office in 2008. He is the country’s first black prime minister.