Corozal Town is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

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 wate ...

, capital of

Corozal District Corozal District is the northernmost district of the nation of Belize. The population was 33,894 in 2000. The district capital is Corozal Town. Pre-Columbian Maya ruins are found in Corozal at Santa Rita near Corozal Town, and at Cerros. To ...

. Corozal Town is located about 84 miles north of

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, w ...

, and 9 miles from the border with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The population of Corozal Town, according to the main results of the 2010 census, is 9,871. Corozal was a private estate before becoming a town in the 1840s, mostly settled by

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

Mestizo refugees from the Caste War of Yucatán. Much of the town was built over an ancient

city, sometimes known as Santa Rita; this may have been the original

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

town called Chactemal, which extended from present day Corozal to

Chetumal Chetumal (, , ; yua, label= Yucatec Maya, Chactemàal , ) is a city on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It is the capital of the state of Quintana Roo and the municipal seat of the Municipality of Othón P. Blanco. In 2020 ...

. Corozal Town was badly damaged by

Hurricane Janet Hurricane Janet was the most powerful tropical cyclone of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record. Janet was also the first named storm to have 1,000 deaths and the first Category 5 storm name to ...

in 1955 and was substantially rebuilt afterward.

History

Corozal, the northmost town in Belize, was founded in 1848 by refugees from the Maya Indian uprising against the Spanish in neighboring Yucatán. This uprising, known as the Caste War of Yucatán (from the Spanish "castes" or race), began as a war against the Spaniards, but it eventually became a war against the Mestizos. The Mestizos, half Spanish and half Indian, had proved to be formidable allies of the Spaniards and were thus mortal enemies of the Maya Indians. A massacre at

Bacalar Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality (until 2011 a part of Othón P. Blanco Municipality) in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, about north of Chetumal, at 18° 40' 37" N, 88° 23' 43" W. In the 2010 census ...

, Mexico — a Mestizo stronghold about thirty miles north of Corozal Town — finally led to the exodus of thousands of Mestizos from Bacalar and the surrounding area. Between 1848 and 1856 more than 10,000 refugees crossed the Rio Hondo, the river that now serves as a boundary between Belize and Mexico. These immigrants sought refuge in northern Belize and increased the population of Corozal Town to 4500. Mr. James Blake, a magistrate, let them settle on lands in the Corozal District and helped them to establish the new crop — sugar cane. The Mestizo refugees were far from safe in Corozal Town as the Maya Indians from the Mexican base in Santa Cruz Bravo — today Carrillo Puerto — made several incursions in Corozal Town. In defense, Corozal became a garrison town and Fort Barlee was built here in 1870. Today, the brick corner supports of the fort surround the post office complex of the buildings across from the central town square. The immigrants brought with them Maya Mestizo culture: Spanish and Yucatec Maya language,

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and Maya folklore, the use of alcalde, their family structure and way of life. Soon, there emerged a local replication of the society of the Yucatán within the boundaries of a country ruled by English expatriates. Across the bay from Corozal Town are the mounds of Cerros, the first Maya coastal trading center. Cerros is considered one of the most important late

preclassic Maya The Preclassic period in Maya history stretches from the beginning of permanent village life c. 1000 BC until the advent of the Classic Period c. 250 AD, and is subdivided into Early (prior to 1000 BC), Middle (1000–400 BC), and Late (400 BC – ...

sites because it represented the first experiment with kingship in the Maya world. The remains include a number of temples, plazas, ball courts, canals, and minor structures. The most interesting artifacts so far discovered are the five jade head pendants. Within Corozal, itself can be found another Maya ruins from the fourteenth century AD. Known as Santa Rita, the pyramid site sits atop the remains of a Maya city that dominated the area for more than 2000 years, and burial sites rich in jewelry and artifacts have been unearthed there. The monument is said to be the center of ancient Chactemal, the Maya capital of the area at the time of the first Spanish attempt to conquer the Yucatec Mayas in the early 16th century. The ruins of Santa Rita is located near the town's Hospital and is surrounded by the villages of San Andres, San Antonio, and Paraiso, by walking distances. An estimated 90% of the town was destroyed by

in 1955, and most of the present structures post-date that hurricane. The town is served by Corozal Hospital.

Climate

Population and Housing

According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census the town of Corozal has a total population of 9,871; 4,740 male and 5,131 female. The total number of households is 2,672 and the average household size is 3.7.

Language

The most spoken language in Corozal district is Spanish and English.

Image gallery

Corozal Town street on a gloomy day.jpg, Corozal Town street on a gloomy day File: Corozal Beach, Corozal, Belize 2.jpg, Corozal limestone beach File:Cerros Ruins, Corozal, Belize.JPG,

Cerros Cerros is an Eastern Lowland Maya archaeological site in northern Belize that functioned from the Late Preclassic to the Postclassic period. The site reached its apogee during the Mesoamerican Late Preclassic and at its peak, it held a populati ...

Ruins File: Corozal Beach, Corozal, Belize.jpg, Another view of Corozal limestone beach File:Corozal.jpg, Corozal seafront File: Corozal Town Square 2.jpg, Corozal Town Park File: Corozal Town Hall.jpg, Corozal Town Hall File: Corozal Town Square.jpg, Corozal Town square File: Corozal beach sunset.jpg, A storm looms off the Corozal coastline opposite the setting sun File: Corozal sign 2.jpg, "Corozal Gateway to Ancient Chactemal" sign along

Philip Goldson Highway The Philip Goldson Highway in Belize joins Belize City through Orange Walk Town and Corozal Town with the Mexican border at the state of Quintana Roo. It is approximately long. The highway was officially commissioned in 1968 as the Northern Highw ...

in south Corozal Town File:Maximum Water Park Corozal.png, Maximum Water Park at Rainbow Park in Corozal Town

Recreation

Corozal Town will have a radio telescope at the

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...

Observatory, owned by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

. In June 2020, the Corozal Town Council led by Mayor Rigo Vellos received a development proposal for an eco-friendly, world-class water park. Maximum Water Park opened to the public in April 2021.

References

External links

Travel Belize – CorozalCorozal.comCorozal Town at Belize.com
http://www.simplybelize.org/episode01.html
¿Que Pasa Corozal? - Providing news on Corozal District and the rest of Belize.
{{Authority control Populated places in Corozal District Corozal North Corozal Bay (Belize House constituency) Mestizo communities in Belize