Belize was the site of
several Mayan city states until their decline at
the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and Spanish disputed
the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it formally became the
colony of British Honduras in 1854. Territorial disputes between the UK
and
Guatemala
delayed the independence of Belize until 1981. Guatemala
refused to recognize the new nation until 1992. Tourism has become the
mainstay of the economy. Its languages are: Spanish 46%, Creole 32.9%,
Mayan dialects 8.9%, English 3.9%
(official), Garifuna 3.4% (Carib), German 3.3%, other 1.4%, and unknown
0.2%