This former British colony, previously known as British Honduras, now has self-governing status. It has been politically claimed by Guatemala as the “Departamento de Belice.” Situated in Central America at the western end of the Caribbean Sea, it covers 22,965 km2, including 370 km2 of cays and islands.
Hardwood timbers, agriculture, and fishing are the major exploited resources; minerals are few and have not been developed.
Structurally, its northern portion forms part of the Yucatan Peninsula (see Mexico) and the southern part, which includes the Cockscomb or Maya Mountains, is an extension of the NE trends of northern Guatemala (see Central America; Guatemala).
The oldest rocks, which crop out in the Maya (or Cockscomb) Mountains, consist of a Pennsylvanian-Permian metasedimentary and sedimentary sequence, correlative with the Santa Rosa Group of Guatemala. This sequence is intruded by granitic bodies and, in its middle part, has a volcanic unit of rhyolitic composition.
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References
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© 1975 Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc.
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Dengo, G. (1975). Belize (british honduras) . In: World Regional Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31081-1_16
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