Tucked between the Caribbean Sea and the rainforest on the eastern coast of Central America, Belize is the home of a small and diverse nation. The country, formerly known as British Honduras, was the United Kingdom’s last colony on the American mainland and still maintains strong ties with Britain.

Is British Honduras and Honduras the same?

Colonial Times to the Present

While the “British” part of British Honduras makes sense as Britain controlled the land, “Honduras” comes from the fact that the initial settlement of Belize rested along the Bay of Honduras.

Belize became the British colony of British Honduras in 1862—which was ruled by a governor who was subordinate to the governor of Jamaica—and a crown colony in 1871, when the Legislative Assembly was abolished.

Why did the British settle in British Honduras?

British Honduras was the last continental possession of the United Kingdom in the Americas. The colony grew out of the Treaty of Versailles (1783) between Britain and Spain, which gave the British rights to cut logwood between the Hondo and Belize rivers.

Prior to independence Belize had been a British colony since 1862, changing its name to Belize from British Honduras in June 1973.