For history prior... - Tradução em português

For history prior to 1862 and following 1981, see History of Belize (1502-1862) and History of Belize#Independence.

The Treaty of Versailles (1783) between Britain and Spain, gave the British rights to cut logwood between the Hondo and Belize rivers. In 1862, the Settlement of Belize in the Bay of Honduras was declared a British colony called British Honduras, and the crown's representative was elevated to a lieutenant governor, subordinate to the governor of Jamaica.