Belize

American  

[buh-leez] / bəˈliz /

noun

1. Formerly British Honduras.  a parliamentary democracy in northern Central America: a former British crown colony; gained independence 1981. 8,867 sq. mi. (22,966 sq. km). Belmopan.

2. Also called Belize City.  a seaport in and the main city of Belize.

3. a river flowing northeast through Belize to the Gulf of Honduras. 180 miles (290 km) long.

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Belize British  

/ bəˈliːz /

noun

1. Former name (until 1973): British Honduras.  a state in Central America, on the Caribbean Sea: site of a Mayan civilization until the 9th century _ad ; colonized by the British from 1638; granted internal self-government in 1964; became an independent state within the Commonwealth in 1981. Official language: English; Carib and Spanish are also spoken. Currency: Belize dollar. Capital: Belmopan. Pop: 334 297 (2013 est). Area: 22 965 sq km (8867 sq miles)

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Other Word Forms

• Belizean adjective

Example Sentences

To say that our picture of the Mayan civilization—an interlocking network of kingdoms occupying the Yucatán Peninsula and swaths of present-day Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador from roughly 1000 B.C. to A.D.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

Some cruise ports in foreign countries such as Belize have medication stalls that cater to passengers.

From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026

Before this discovery, only five major tektite fields were known worldwide, located in Australasia, Central Europe, the Ivory Coast, North America, and Belize.

From Science Daily • Mar. 1, 2026

The small Central American nation of Belize has signed an agreement with Washington to act as a "safe third country" for migrants as they seek asylum in the United States.

From BBC • Oct. 21, 2025

The Mayans of the tenth century CE built city-states as far south as Belize and Honduras.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz