Rhino Car Hire Belize Country Information
British troops have been stationed in Belize ever since it gained independence from Britain in 1981. Self-governing since 1964, the country was previously British Honduras, and had been a British colony since 1862. Today, the military presence is intended to protect Belize from the territorial c1aims of neighbouring Guatemala, which date back to 1821.
However, border patrols also limit the smuggling of marijuana, which is one of Belize's main sources of income (although it is illegal and bypasses the national coffers). And the patrols provide a barrier to arms smuggling through Belize from Cuba to El Salvador; like drug running, this brings money and employment to a country that is short of both.
A small but increasingly important legal source of income and work is now provided by tourists, drawn to Belize by the splendid Caribbean beaches and the ruined temple of the Mayan civilisation buried deep in the tropical forest. The Mayas flourished between about AD 300 and 900.
The climate is warm and humid, with cooling sea breezes. Rainfall is heavy, especially towards the south, but there is a relatively dry period from February to May. Hurricanes can occur in late summer. Dense tropical forest covers the welter plains and highlands, with scrub-type savannah in the drier places. The forest provides valuable hard woods such as mahogany, logwood, lignum-vitae (guaiacum) and cedars.