San Carlos, Belize

Last updated
San Carlos, Belize
Belize location map.svg
Red pog.svg
San Carlos, Belize
Coordinates: Coordinates: 17°43′04″N88°39′13″W / 17.7178°N 88.6536°W / 17.7178; -88.6536
Country Flag of Belize.svg  Belize
District Orange Walk District
Time zone UTC-6 (Central)

The village of San Carlos is located in the north of Belize, in Orange Walk District, on the northern bank of New River, surrounded by jungle. It is four miles from Indian Church, and can be accessed by road from Orange Walk Town or by boat from the New River.

San Carlos is small, with a population of 154 (2013) of Mestizo ethnicity. The village was set up by a group of families around 1970 from the larger town of Guinea Grass Town. Other inhabitants are originally from Guatemala, immigrating to Belize during the tumultuous years of civil war. The village is still technologically primitive. Water is pumped from wells for washing and bathing. Rain water tanks collect plenty of drinking water during the months of June thru December. An NGO donated 25 solar panels to the community providing evening light to 25 homes. A few families have purchased their own solar panels while a few families rely solely on kerosene lamps or candles. There are 32 occupied homes and 36 families in the Village. Additionally, a few villagers own generators to pump water from the wells, power washing machines, light, television, and irrigation systems.

Its economy revolves around agriculture, although a number of men are currently employed at the Maya ruins at Lamanai in order to restore some of the temples. A number of men with pickup trucks are hired by the Mennonites in nearby communities (Indian Creek and Shipyard) to drive, help with farming, and running errands. Agricultural pursuits include a host of fruits and vegetables, including onions, habanero peppers, bananas and watermelons.

A future prospect for San Carlos is to acquire capital for a jetty out into the picturesque lagoon in order to profit from Belize's booming tourism industry as it would allow visitors to the ruins at Lamanai to visit this friendly community. There is currently[ when? ] one U.S. Peace Corps volunteer living in the village working on the rural family health project implemented by the Peace Corps and the Ministry of Health in Belize.


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belize Defence Force</span> Military of Belize

The Belize Defence Force (BDF) is the military of Belize, and is responsible for protecting the sovereignty of the country. The BDF is under the Ministry of National Defence and Border Security, which is currently headed by Hon. Florencio Marin Jr.; the BDF itself is commanded by Brigadier General Azariel Loria. In 2012, the Belizean government spent about $17 million on the military, constituting 1.08% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corozal Town</span> Town in Corozal, Belize

Corozal Town is a town in Belize, capital of Corozal District. Corozal Town is located about 84 miles north of Belize City, and 9 miles from the border with Mexico. The population of Corozal Town, according to the main results of the 2010 census, is 9,871.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange Walk Town</span> Town in Orange Walk, Belize

Orange Walk Town is the fourth largest town in Belize, with a population of about 13,400. It is the capital of the Orange Walk District. Orange Walk Town is located on the left bank of the New River, 53 miles (85 km) north of Belize City and 30 miles (48 km) south of Corozal Town. Despite the English name of the city, its residents are primarily Spanish-speaking mestizos. The city is in a very low-lying area of Belize, though the police station sits atop a buried Mayan pyramid at 49 m (161 ft) tall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toledo District</span> District of Belize

Toledo District is the southernmost district in Belize. Punta Gorda is the District capital. According to the Human Development Index (HDI), it is the second most developed region in the country. The district has a diverse topography which features rainforests, extensive cave networks, coastal lowland plains, and offshore cays. Toledo is home to a wide range of cultures such as Mopan, Kekchi Maya, Creole, Garifuna, East Indians, Mennonites, Mestizos, and descendants of US Confederate settlers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belize District</span> District of Belize

Belize District is a district of the nation of Belize. Its capital is Belize City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange Walk District</span> Northwestern district of Belize

Orange Walk District is a district in the northwest of the nation of Belize, with its district capital in Orange Walk Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cayo District</span> District of Belize

Cayo District is a district located in the west part of Belize. It is the most extensive, second-most populous and third-most densely populated of the six districts of Belize. The district's capital is the town of San Ignacio.

Guinea Grass is a village in the Orange Walk District of the nation of Belize. It is 38 metres above sea level. According to the 2000 census, Guinea Grass had a population of 2,510 people; by 2010 the census figures showed a population of 3,500. The population is made up of mostly Mestizos, Creoles, and East Indians. There are a number of Mennonites, Taiwanese and other Central American immigrants living near or immediately in the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamanai</span>

Lamanai is a Mesoamerican archaeological site, and was once a major city of the Maya civilization, located in the north of Belize, in Orange Walk District. The site's name is pre-Columbian, recorded by early Spanish missionaries, and documented over a millennium earlier in Maya inscriptions as Lam'an'ain. Lamanai is renowned for its exceptionally long occupation spanning three millennia, beginning in the Early Preclassic Maya period and continuing through the Spanish and British Colonial periods, into the 20th century. Unlike most Classic-period sites in the southern Maya lowlands, Lamanai was not abandoned at the end of the 10th century AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maya ruins of Belize</span> Historically important pre-Columbian Maya archaeological sites

The Maya ruins of Belize include a number of well-known and historically important pre-Columbian Maya archaeological sites. Belize is considered part of the southern Maya lowlands of the Mesoamerican culture area, and the sites found there were occupied from the Preclassic until and after the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Church, Belize</span> Place in Orange Walk District, Belize

Indian Church is a small remote village in the Orange Walk District of Belize. It is located on the west bank of New River, neighbouring the town of San Carlos to its south, and the Maya ruins of Lamanai to its north. According to the 2010 census, Indian Church has a population of 267 people in 66 households. The village is named for the historic Spanish churches recovered among the ancient Maya ruins. The residents lived among the ruins until 1991 when the Government of Belize established the 2-square-mile (5.2 km2) Lamanai Archaeological Reserve maintained by Belize's Institute of Archaeology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Temple</span>

The High Temple is an ancient Mayan temple at the Lamanai archaeological site in Orange Walk District, Belize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New River (Belize)</span> River

The New River, also Río Nuevo, is a river in northern Belize. As the longest river that is entirely confined to Belize, it drains primarily the eastern part of the Orange Walk District during its north-northeasterly course and empties into the Chetumal Bay. The river also forms the New River Lagoon, the largest body of fresh water in Belize, just east of the Maya temples of Lamanai. The New River is a habitat for numerous types of fish, birds, as well as crocodiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-Columbian Belize</span> Belize prior to Spanish colonisation

The Pre-Columbian Belize history is the period from initial indigenous presence, across millennia, to the first contacts with Europeans - the Pre-Columbian or before Columbus period - that occurred on the region of the Yucatán Peninsula that is present day Belize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KaŹ¼Kabish</span> Archaeological site

KaʼKabish is an archaeological site in the Orange Walk District of Belize, Central America, located near the Maya sites of Lamanai, El Pozito, and Blue Creek. It was once a moderate sized city, built as part of the Maya civilization, and has been determined to have been largely autonomous throughout its history. The modern communities of Indian Church and San Filipe are in close proximity to KaʼKabish, and the Mennonite community of Blue Creek is slightly further afield. A road connecting Indian Church to San Filipe separates the site into two areas, the North Complex and the South Complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Milpa</span> Mayan archaeological site in Belize

La Milpa is an archaeological site and an ancient Maya city within the Three River region of Northwest Belize bordering Mexico and Guatemala. La Milpa is located between the sites of Rio Azul and Lamanai. Currently, La Milpa lies within the nature preserve owned by the Programme for Belize, a non-profit organization. PfB acquired land for the preserve from the Coco-Cola Company, who purchased land in Belize in 1988 with the goals of tearing down the rainforest to create a citrus plantation, however donated the land to conservation and management project in 1990 and 1992. Following Caracol and Lamanai, La Milpa is the third largest site in Belize with the Main Plaza alone covering 18,000 square meters, making it one of the largest in the entire Maya region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hispanic and Latin American Belizean</span>

Hispanic and Latin American Belizeans are Belizeans of full or partial Hispanic and Latin American descent. Currently, they comprise around 52.9% of Belize's population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Catholic Church in Belize</span>

This history of the Catholic church in Belize has three parts: the historical periods of the Catholic presence in Belize, religious congregations laboring in Belize, and apostolic works undertaken.

The Billy Barquedier National Park is a national park in Belize, located between 16.5–19 miles on the Hummingbird Highway in Stann Creek District, south of Belize City. It is located between the Mullins River and Stann Creek watersheds.