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Sarstoon River
The Sarstoon River ( es, link=no, Río Sarstún) is a Central American river that forms part of the international border between Belize and Guatemala. The river's source lies in Guatemala's Alta Verapaz Department, Alta Verapaz Department. It flows eastward, serving as the border between the Departments of Guatemala, departments of Petén Department, Petén and Izabal Department, Izabal before passing between Belize's Toledo District (to the north) and Guatemala's Izabal Department (to the south) on its way to the Caribbean Sea. Near its mouth lies Sarstoon Island, in Belizean territory. The Sarstoon is the internationally accepted southern border between Belize and Guatemala, although as part of the Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute since 1999 Guatemala has claimed Belizean territory south of the Sibun River. On 15 April 2019, the river was the site of a border incident between Guatemala and Belize, when three Guatemalan gun-boats crewed by armed soldiers prevented the ...
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Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a water boundary with Honduras to the southeast. It has an area of and a population of 441,471 (2022). Its mainland is about long and wide. It is the least populated and least densely populated country in Central America. Its population growth rate of 1.87% per year (2018 estimate) is the second-highest in the region and one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere. Its capital is Belmopan, and its largest city is the namesake city of Belize City. Belize is often thought of as a Caribbean country in Central America because it has a history similar to that of English-speaking Caribbean nations. Indeed, Belize’s institutions and official language reflect its history as a British colony. The Maya civilization spread into the area of Beli ...
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Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Honduras; to the southeast by El Salvador and to the south by the Pacific Ocean. With an estimated population of around million, Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America and the 11th most populous country in the Americas. It is a representative democracy with its capital and largest city being Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City, the most populous city in Central America. The territory of modern Guatemala hosted the core of the Maya civilization, which extended across Mesoamerica. In the 16th century, most of this area was conquered by the Spanish and claimed as part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Guatemala attained independence in 1821 from Spain and Mexico. In 1823, it became part of the Fe ...
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Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles starting with Cuba, to the east by the Lesser Antilles, and to the south by the northern coast of South America. The Gulf of Mexico lies to the northwest. The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the numerous islands of the West Indies, and adjacent coasts are collectively known as the Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas and has an area of about . The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays: the Gulf of Gonâve, Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, Gulf of Paria and Gulf of Honduras. The Caribbean Sea has ...
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River
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water. Small rivers can be referred to using names such as Stream#Creek, creek, Stream#Brook, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the generic term river as applied to Geographical feature, geographic features, although in some countries or communities a stream is defined by its size. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; examples are "run" in some parts of the United States, "Burn (landform), burn" in Scotland and northeast England, and "beck" in northern England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always: the language is vague. Rivers are part of the water cycle. Water generally collects in a river from Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation through a ...
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Alta Verapaz Department
Alta Verapaz () is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and Baja Verapaz, and to the west by El Quiché. Also in Alta Verapaz are the towns of Chisec, San Pedro Carchá and San Cristóbal Verapaz. History In Pre-Columbian times this area was part of the Maya civilization. When the Spanish Conquistadores came in the 1520s they conquered the central and southern highlands of Guatemala, but were driven back from this region by fierce native resistance. Unknown to the history books of this region, local oral history speaks of a former slave ship capsizing prior to the Spaniards arriving upon this area of Guatemala. The former African slaves moved inland, and joined forces with the local indigenous people to fight and maintain their freedom. Spanish friars succeeded in converting the area to Chri ...
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Departments Of Guatemala
Guatemala is divided into 22 Department (country subdivision), departments (Spanish language, Spanish: ''departamentos'') which are in turn divided into 340 Municipalities of Guatemala, municipalities. In addition, Guatemala has claimed that all or part of the nation of Belize is a department of Guatemala, and this claim is sometimes reflected in maps of the region. Guatemala formally recognized Belize in 1991, but the Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute, border disputes between the two nations have not been resolved. Departments See also *ISO 3166-2:GT References External resources Interactive map of Guatemalan departments and municipalities
{{Americas topic, Administrative divisions of Departments of Guatemala, Subdivisions of Guatemala Lists of administrative divisions, Guatemala, Departments Administrative divisions in North America, Guatemala 1 First-level admin ...
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Petén Department
Petén is a department of Guatemala. It is geographically the northernmost department of Guatemala, as well as the largest by area at it accounts for about one third of Guatemala's area. The capital is Flores. The population at the mid-2018 official estimate was 595,548. Geography The Petén department is bordered on the east by Belize and by Mexico (with the Mexican states of Chiapas to the west, Tabasco to the northwest and Campeche to the north). To the south it borders the Guatemalan departments of Alta Verapaz and Izabal.ITMB Publishing Ltd. 2005. Much of the western border with Mexico is formed by the Usumacinta River and its tributary the Salinas River. Portions of the southern border of the department are formed by the rivers Gracias a Dios and Santa Isabel. The Petén lowlands are formed by a densely forested low-lying limestone plain featuring karstic topography. The area is crossed by low east-west oriented ridges of Cenozoic limestone and is characterised by a ...
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Izabal Department
Izabal () is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. Its coastal areas form part of the homeland of the Garifuna people. Izabal is bordered to the north by Belize, to the north east by the Gulf of Honduras, and to the east by Honduras, and by the Guatemalan departments of Petén to the north west, Alta Verapaz to the west, and Zacapa to the south. The Izabal Department surrounds Lake Izabal (or Lago de Izabal), Guatemala's largest lake (about 48 km long and 24 km wide, with an area of about 590 km²). The Spanish Colonial fort of San Felipe, now a Guatemalan national monument, overlooks the point where the lake flows into the Río Dulce. The small town of Izabal is on the south shore of the lake; before the construction of the ports of Livingston and Puerto Barrios in the 19th century this was Guatemala's main Caribbean Sea port and was the original seat of Izabal department; nowadays, however, Izabal town is a remote village that gets little traffic. From th ...
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Toledo District
Toledo District is the southernmost district in Belize, and Punta Gorda is the District capital. It is the second most developed region in the country (according to the Human Development Index (HDI)). The district has a diverse topography which features rainforests, extensive cave networks, coastal lowland plains, and offshore cays. Toledo is home to a wide range of cultures: Mopan and Kekchi Maya, Creole, the Garifuna, East Indians, Mennonites, Mestizos, and descendants of US Confederate settlers. Geography The District has many villages, including Monkey River Town and the Toledo Settlement; the Maya villages of San Pedro Columbia, Blue Creek, Indian Creek, Santa Cruz, San Antonio, San Jose, San Felipe; and the Garifuna village of Barranco. It also has a number of Maya ruins, including Lubaantun, Nim Li Punit, Uxbenka, and Pusilha. According to the 2010 census, Toledo District had a population of 30,538 people. Economy The economy of Toledo relies heavily upon a ...
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Sarstoon Island
Sarstoon Island is an island at the southernmost point of Belize located near the mouth of the Sarstoon River. The Sarstoon River is located at the south of Sarstoon Island and is the southern part of the Belize–Guatemala border. Sarstoon Island is part of the Toledo District of Belize, which is one of 6 districts of the country. The island is mostly mangrove swampland and is uninhabited. It covers approximately . Sarstoon Island is in Belize but Guatemala has recently made claims to the island as part of the Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute. Guatemalan Armed Forces (GAF) routinely patrol the waters of Sarstoon Island and illegally enter Belizean waters while at the same time prevent civilian Belizeans from freely traversing the area belonging to Belize. There have been various incidents like these in recent years from 2015 to present, especially documented by the Belize Territorial Volunteers and leader Wil Maheia. According to the Wyke-Aycinena Treaty of 1859, "any is ...
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Belizean–Guatemalan Territorial Dispute
The Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute is an unresolved territorial dispute between the states of Belize (FKA British Honduras, British Settlement in the Bay of Honduras) and Guatemala, neighbours in Central America. During the late 1600s and throughout the 1700s, Britain and Spain signed several treaties regarding territories in the Americas. Both nations agreed that the territory (of modern-day Belize) was under Spanish sovereignty, but English settlers could use the land, in specific areas and for specific purposes. However, the area was never fully under British or Spanish occupation at this time. When the Spanish Empire fell, Guatemala said that they inherited Spain's sovereign rights over the territory. Since independence, Guatemala has claimed, in whole or in part, the territory of Belize. In 1859, Guatemala and Britain negotiated the Wyke-Aycinena Treaty regarding the disputed area. The treaty stated that Guatemala would recognize British sovereignty over the regi ...
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Sibun River
The Sibun River (Xibun River, formerly Sheboon River) is a river in Belize which drains a large central portion of the country. The Sibun ( Xibun) were ancient Maya people who inhabited the region. The headwaters of the Sibun River are located within the Maya Mountains, at approximately 800 meters above sea level, where it is known as the Caves Branch River. The river then flows through a gorge until it reaches an alluvial floodplain, where citrus and cacao plantations exist. Here the river valley is flanked by karst topography featuring Maya cave sites. Before the river reaches the village of Freetown Sibun, river figs and spiny bamboo (''Guadua longifolia'') are common along its banks; along the stretch of river between the coast and the village, mangroves are predominant. It empties into the Caribbean Sea, south of Belize City. The Sibun River Watershed features several vegetation types, including tropical evergreen seasonal mixed needle forest, broadleaf forest, mangroves, an ...
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