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Home Countries Belize

History Of Belize: From Maya Settlement To Melting Pot

Safe, Stable, Happy, And Free— This Is Belize

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Dec 17, 2020
in Belize, Lifestyle, Travel
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Xunantunich archaeological site, Belize.

iStock/Avi_Cohen_Nehemia

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Since Survivor and Temptation Island put it on America’s radar, sleepy little Belize has been attracting attention for its white-sand beaches, coral reef, Maya ruins, and virgin rainforest.

Historically, it was the country’s land, water, gold, timber, and oil. These are the agendas that have been bringing people to Belize since the Maya settled in the region more than 4,000 years ago.

At one time, the forests, coastlines, and rivers of this country supported a Maya population of nearly 500,000.

That’s about 150,000 more people than live in Belize today.

Life in Belize, in the time of the Maya and still today, revolves around its rivers.

Indeed, Mother Nature rules here… and the iconic flora and fauna in modern-day Belize are not greatly changed from what was here in Maya times. Towering ceiba trees—the Maya Tree of Life—colorful toucans… even wild jaguars continue to thrive in this still very undeveloped country.

People sometimes wonder what happened to the Maya…

Don’t worry. They’re alive and well in Belize.

The Yucatec, Mopan, and K’iche’ Maya were the country’s first civilizations, and you’ll find their descendants living along this country’s coastline and in its interior jungles even now. The Maya people, their culture, and their history are a big part of what defines modern Belize.

In addition to the Maya, you’ve got the Kriol people, descended from the British and Africans who settled the country’s coast in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. English is the official language of Belize, but Kriol is the lingua franca.

Belize is a melting pot, a bouillabaisse—or, as the Belizeans would say, a boil-up.

A “boil-up”?

That’s a Belizean gumbo made with yams, cassava, tomatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, fish, pig’s tail, water, salt, pepper, dough, eggs, plantains, and bananas.

An exotic mix of familiar ingredients… and that’s very Belize.

One Of The Most Stable Places On Earth

San Pedro, Belize.
iStock/JudyDillon

For its British colonizers, Belize was a logging outpost. They saw no need to invest in infrastructure in the colony… and didn’t. Infrastructure development has become a priority only in recent years. The power and communication grids are growing, and a new state-of-the-art sanitation facility is up and running.

Belize transitioned from crown colony to independent, sovereign nation without a revolution or even a tussle.

In fact, the country has no standing army and has never been involved in an armed conflict. This is one of the safest and most stable places on Earth—both historically and today.

It’s also a land filled with the unexpected. Everywhere you look in Belize, you find charming contrast.

Belize City’s roadways are built around a system of roundabouts (thanks to those British colonizers), but shops alongside them sell rice, beans, and tortillas still ground by hand… just the way the Maya did.

A Land That Values Independence…

A silhouette of a woman holding her arms out while facing a beautiful sunset.
iStock/athenaphotography

Everyone you meet speaks English (it’s the country’s official language), but this belies the stories of their origins. The 350,000 people populating Belize today are descendants of the Maya and of migrants from Britain, yes, as well, they’ve found their way here from the surrounding Central American countries.

These Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Nicaraguans have mixed with the current-day generations of Maya, the pirates who came later, the Mennonite farmers who began arriving on the scene in the 16th century, the British who ruled until 1981, and each other.

And all these seemingly disparate folks have something very important in common…

They’re all freedom-seekers.

The pirates came to ply their pirate trading out of view. The Mennonites came from Germany and the Netherlands so they could be Mennonites without anyone bothering them. The British came so they could bank in private. And the folks from the surrounding countries who’ve sought out Belize over the past few decades have made their way across this country’s borders in search of safety and opportunity.

Today, now, a new population of freedom-seekers is finding its way to these shores.

Us!

Baby boomers and others from the United States, Canada, and beyond looking to change latitudes and attitudes are targeting this beautiful little Caribbean seaside nation in ever-growing numbers.

Where Optimism Is Contagious…

Garifuna people perform traditional Garifuna songs in Belize.
iStock/Roijoy

Regardless where they’ve come from, the people who find their way to Belize live in the present, remain optimistic about the future, and bask in the sunshine and can-do spirit of one of the world’s quirkiest nations.

Belize is a nation of independent thinkers and doers, a country where you make your own way and where, while you’re doing it, no one is making any attempt to thwart your efforts.

And Where The Government Minds Its Own Business

The police station at Hattieville, Belize.
iStock/Roijoy

Including the Belizean government.

This is a poor country. The government doesn’t have enough money to get up to any real trouble. And, if they tried, the Belizeans wouldn’t allow it.

The focus here is on very local-level government—addressing the crime problems in certain neighborhoods of Belize City, for example, or trying to dissuade the Guatemalan bandidos who occasionally wander over into Belize in search of a couple of good horses to steal.

Remember, this is also a tax haven, thanks to the British, a place where your financial affairs are your own.

It sounds like the ideal escape—and for many it is—but, at these prices, you can afford to make it a way of life that never has to end.

In fact, I bet it could be cheaper to live here than it is where you are now.

More on this tomorrow.

Sincerely,
Kathleen Peddicord
Kathleen Peddicord
Founding Publisher,Overseas Opportunity Letter

Tags: Belize historyCentral AmericaMayasMelting potMove to Belizeretire to Belize
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Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

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