Belize and Its Neighbours in Central America

BELIZE · NEIGHBOURS

Belize neighbours Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, and two of those relationships go before the UN’s top court in early 2027. For Americans who dive, retire or invest there, the rulings will fix borders on land and sea.

The United States, meanwhile, sold Belize more goods than any other country in 2025, 42.5% of its imports.

Where Belize Sits and Who Its Neighbours Are

Belize covers 22,966 square kilometres (8,867 square miles) on the Caribbean coast of Central America. Its 2022 census counted 397,483 residents.

Of the three Belize neighbours, only Mexico and Guatemala share a land border with it. Mexico lies to the north across the Río Hondo, and Guatemala runs along the west and the south.

Honduras sits across the Gulf of Honduras, a sea inlet formed by the coasts of Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. The main friction between Belize and Honduras is a cluster of small cays both claim.

Britain ruled the territory as British Honduras, renamed Belize in 1973, until independence on 21 September 1981. That colonial past is one reason Belize looks both to Central America and to the Caribbean.

Prime Minister John Briceño of the People’s United Party (PUP), the governing party, leads the government as of October 2026. Francis Fonseca is his foreign minister.

The Belize dollar is fixed at two to the US dollar, so local prices convert easily. More background sits on the Rio Times Belize page and in Belize Explained: The Country, Its Economy, Its Politics.

Guatemala, the Claim That Defines Belize

Among Belize neighbours, Guatemala matters most, because it claims land, islands and sea areas that Belize governs. Belize’s foreign ministry says its southern border on the Sarstoon River was fixed by an 1859 treaty between Britain and Guatemala.

On 8 December 2008, the two governments signed a Special Agreement to send the dispute to the International Court of Justice. The ICJ is the principal court of the United Nations and sits in The Hague.

Voters approved the move in referendums, in Guatemala on 15 April 2018 and in Belize on 8 May 2019. The question asked whether the court should take the claim “for final settlement” and “determine finally” the boundaries.

After years of written arguments, the court has set oral hearings for 22 to 26 February 2027. Guatemala’s foreign ministry announced the dates on 17 September 2026, and Belize’s foreign ministry confirmed them.

For Guatemala’s own side of the story, see Guatemala Explained 2026.

A Tense River Frontier

Until a ruling, the two countries live with an informal dividing line. The Organization of American States (OAS), the Americas’ regional body, keeps a permanent office in the so-called Adjacency Zone along it.

OAS Secretary General Albert Ramdin began a three-day visit to the zone on 1 September 2026, Belizean broadcaster Love FM reported. He was due to meet both foreign ministers, Francis Fonseca for Belize and Carlos Ramiro Martínez for Guatemala.

The Sarstoon River in the far south is the sorest spot. On 10 September 2026 about 18 Guatemalan military and civilian boats blocked Belizean volunteers circling Sarstoon Island, Belize’s foreign ministry said.

Belize lodged its “strongest protest” and informed the OAS, as covered in Belize and Guatemala Spar over Sarstoon River Border. The ministry also restated its “full confidence” in the court process.

On 26 September Briceño told the UN General Assembly that a Guatemalan military plane had entered Belize’s airspace on 23 September. Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo denied the flight and offered the OAS the aircraft’s records, the Guatemalan daily Prensa Libre reported.

That episode is detailed in Belize Airspace Row: Guatemala Denies Military Flight.

Officials are already planning for the day after the ruling. Oscar Arnold, chief executive of Belize’s foreign ministry, said the border will then need marking on the ground, Love FM reported.

Mexico, the Northern Partner Across the Río Hondo

Mexico settled its old dispute with Britain in a boundary treaty signed on 8 July 1893, Mexico’s foreign ministry archive shows. The agreed line runs largely along the Río Hondo, which now separates Belize from the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.

The Río Hondo international bridge joins Santa Elena, in Belize’s Corozal District, with Subteniente López, near Chetumal, Quintana Roo’s capital. Right at the border sits the Corozal Free Zone, a duty-free trading area.

Mexico’s federal government began rebuilding that bridge in March 2026, widening it from nine to 13 metres. Quintana Roo’s government put the federal cost at 42.76 million pesos (US$2.35 million at 18.21 pesos per US dollar, 4 October 2026).

Mexico also helps keep Belize’s lights on. The power company Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) buys electricity imported from Mexico’s state utility, CFE, its September 2026 tariff filing shows.

In 2025 Belize bought US$132.4 million in goods from Mexico, about 9.1% of its imports, and sold it US$10.3 million. Some 2,528 Mexican-born people lived in Belize at the 2022 census.

For Mexico’s wider view of its borders, see Mexico Neighbours Explained for US, Canada and Beyond.

Honduras and the Sapodilla Cayes

Belize and Honduras share no land border, but they face each other across the Gulf of Honduras. Their quarrel is over the Sapodilla Cayes, small islands at the southern tip of the Belize Barrier Reef.

The cays lie about 20 to 25 nautical miles from the coasts of Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, the ICJ notes. Honduras calls them the Cayos Zapotillos and rests its claim on a title once held by Spain.

Belize took Honduras to the ICJ on 16 November 2022. It argues that Britain and then Belize ran the cays openly and peacefully for 200 years.

Guatemala also claims the cays, and on 19 March 2026 the court allowed it to join the case as a non-party. Hearings are set for 1 to 5 March 2027, straight after the Guatemala case.

Both Belize and Honduras filed written comments on Guatemala’s statement on 21 September 2026, Belize’s government said. Away from the cays, the link is mostly human, with 6,940 Honduran-born residents counted in Belize in 2022.

Trade, Close Neighbours and Distant Customers

Trade with Belize neighbours is modest next to its trade with distant partners. In 2025 the US supplied 42.5% of Belize’s US$1.46 billion in imports, and China 17.9%, the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) reports.

Mexico supplied 9.1%, and the rest of Central America, excluding Panama and Costa Rica, a further 9.3%, worth US$135.8 million. Those figures use the fixed rate of two Belize dollars to the US dollar.

On the export side, Belize earned US$242.5 million in 2025. The United Kingdom bought US$64.0 million, the United States US$62.8 million and CARICOM members US$45.6 million.

Central American partners other than Panama and Costa Rica bought just US$21.6 million, and Mexico US$10.3 million. The economy grew 1.4% in the second quarter of 2026, as Belize Economy Grows 1.4% as Inflation Hits 4.4% explains.

With Guatemala, Belize has a partial scope agreement, a limited trade deal covering a short list of goods. It was signed in 2006, took effect in 2010 and covers 150 named products.

Belize still buys more from Guatemala than it sells there, its foreign trade directorate says. A similar deal with El Salvador followed on 13 August 2026, as reported in El Salvador and Belize Sign Partial-Scope Trade Deal.

Migration Runs in Both Directions

Belize is a destination for Central Americans and a starting point for its own people heading north. The 2022 census counted 45,644 foreign-born residents, 11.5% of the population.

Guatemalans formed the largest group with 19,061 people, followed by 8,511 Salvadorans and 6,940 Hondurans. Together, people born in those three countries made up 76% of all immigrants.

Family reunification and work were the top reasons immigrants gave for coming, the census report found. The United States remained the main destination for Belizeans who emigrated.

Most immigrants live in the Cayo and Belize districts, which together host 58% of the foreign-born. Cayo borders Guatemala and includes the capital, Belmopan.

Belize has also agreed to help Washington with asylum seekers. Under a “safe third country” deal signed on 20 October 2025, the US can transfer some asylum seekers to Belize.

Belize keeps a veto over every transfer, and the first eight people arrived in July 2026, the government said.

A Shared Reef and Two Border Rivers

Belize’s barrier reef is part of the Mesoamerican Reef, whose coast runs about 1,000 kilometres from Mexico’s Yucatán to Honduras’s Bay Islands. Conservation funds from Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras set up the MAR Fund to protect it in 2004.

UNESCO, the UN’s education, science and culture agency, listed the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System as World Heritage in 1996. It calls it the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere.

The reef spent 2009 to 2018 on UNESCO’s danger list and came off after Belize imposed an oil moratorium, among other steps. Its seven protected areas include the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve, the very cays Honduras disputes.

Rivers mark parts of both land borders shared by Belize neighbours. The Río Hondo runs along the Mexican line, while the Sarstoon River forms part of the Guatemalan boundary in mid-channel.

Belize says the 1859 treaty keeps the Sarstoon’s channels “equally free and open” to boats from both countries. The September 2026 stand-off took place around Sarstoon Island, which Belize says lies inside its territory.

SICA and CARICOM, One Foot in Each Camp

Belize joined CARICOM, the Caribbean Community, on 1 May 1974, seven years before independence. It is the only CARICOM member in Central America, a bloc otherwise made up mostly of island states.

Belize is also a member of SICA, the Central American Integration System. In June 2026 Belize congratulated Costa Rica’s Lina Ajoy on her appointment as SICA secretary-general for 2026 to 2030.

The double membership gives Belize two regional platforms, one Caribbean and one Central American. On the border dispute, though, it relies on the OAS and the ICJ rather than either bloc.

After the Sarstoon incident, its foreign ministry formally notified the OAS and Belize’s “international partners and friends”.

What It Means for US Readers

For Americans, Belize neighbours matter because the US is Belize’s largest supplier and 2,985 US-born residents lived there at the 2022 census.

The two ICJ cases matter to anyone buying land or diving in the south. The rulings will settle who governs disputed areas, including the Sapodilla Cayes marine reserve.

Until then, stand-offs like the September 2026 Sarstoon episode can recur, though Belize says it has full confidence in the court. Belize also now plays a role in US asylum policy through the 2025 transfer deal.

With the currency fixed at two Belize dollars per US dollar, prices are simple to read for American visitors and investors.

What Is Not Known

No one knows when the ICJ will rule after the February and March 2027 hearings, or where it will draw the lines. It is also unclear how Guatemala’s role as a non-party will shape the Sapodilla Cayes decision.

Quintana Roo’s government said in March 2026 that the rebuilt Río Hondo bridge would be finished within the year. Belize’s government statements on the asylum deal mention a cap on transfers but do not give the number.

How ties with Belize neighbours settle after the rulings is another open question. Under the 2008 agreement, both sides then have three months to set up a joint commission to mark the border.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which countries are Belize’s neighbours?

The Belize neighbours on land are Mexico, to the north, and Guatemala, to the west and south. Honduras lies across the Gulf of Honduras, and the two countries dispute the Sapodilla Cayes.

What does Guatemala claim in Belize?

Guatemala claims land, islands and sea areas that Belize governs. Both countries agreed in 2008 to let the International Court of Justice decide, and hearings are set for 22 to 26 February 2027.

Who owns the Sapodilla Cayes?

Belize runs them as part of its Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve, but Honduras claims them as the Cayos Zapotillos and Guatemala also asserts a claim. The ICJ will hear the case from 1 to 5 March 2027.

Is Belize part of Central America or the Caribbean?

Both. It sits on the Central American mainland and belongs to SICA, and it has been a member of CARICOM, the Caribbean Community, since 1 May 1974.

How much does Belize trade with Mexico?

In 2025 Belize imported US$132.4 million in goods from Mexico and exported US$10.3 million there, according to the Statistical Institute of Belize.

Who leads Belize?

Prime Minister John Briceño of the People’s United Party (PUP) heads the government as of October 2026. Francis Fonseca is foreign minister.

How many immigrants live in Belize?

The 2022 census counted 45,644 foreign-born residents, 11.5% of the population. About three in four were born in Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras.

Sources: International Court of Justice, press release 2019/25 (Guatemala/Belize), 12 June 2019; International Court of Justice, Judgment on Guatemala’s intervention (Belize v. Honduras), 19 March 2026; AGN, Guatemala’s state news agency, on ICJ hearing dates, 18 September 2026; The San Pedro Sun, Belize confirms ICJ hearing dates, 24 September 2026; Belize Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sarstoon statement, 14 September 2026; Government of Belize Press Office, Prime Minister departs for UNGA, 24 September 2026; Government of Belize Press Office, Sapodilla Cayes written observations, 23 September 2026; Government of Belize Press Office, Safe Third Country Agreement signed, 20 October 2025; Government of Belize Press Office, first transfers, 30 July 2026; Statistical Institute of Belize, External Trade Bulletin December 2025, 2026; Statistical Institute of Belize, Migration Report, 2022 Census, 20 October 2025; Mexico Foreign Ministry (SRE), Mexico–Belize boundary archive guide, accessed 5 October 2026; Government of Quintana Roo, Río Hondo bridge, 9 March 2026; Public Utilities Commission, BEL tariff filing, 15 September 2026; Belize Directorate General for Foreign Trade, Belize-Guatemala PSA, accessed 5 October 2026; Belize Ministry of Foreign Affairs, El Salvador agreement, 13 August 2026; CARICOM, Belize country profile, accessed 5 October 2026; UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, accessed 5 October 2026; MAR Fund, accessed 5 October 2026; Central Bank of Belize, exchange rates, 2 October 2026; Prensa Libre (ACAN-EFE), Arévalo on the airspace row, 30 September 2026; Love FM, OAS visit to the Adjacency Zone, 1 September 2026; Love FM, post-ICJ planning, 3 September 2026.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief

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