The Sarstoon River ( es, link=no, Río Sarstún) is a Central American

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

that forms part of the international border between

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

and Guatemala. The river's source lies in Guatemala's

Alta Verapaz Alta Verapaz () is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and ...

Department. It flows eastward, serving as the border between the departments of Petén and Izabal before passing between Belize's

Toledo District Toledo District is the southernmost district in Belize, and Punta Gorda is the District capital. It is the second most developed region in the country (according to the Human Development Index (HDI)). The district has a diverse topography whic ...

(to the north) and Guatemala's Izabal Department (to the south) on its way to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. Near its mouth lies

Sarstoon Island Sarstoon Island is an island at the southernmost point of Belize located near the mouth of the Sarstoon River. The Sarstoon River is located at the south of Sarstoon Island and is the southern part of the Belize–Guatemala border. Sarstoon Islan ...

, in Belizean territory. The Sarstoon is the internationally accepted southern border between Belize and Guatemala, although as part of the

Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute The Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute is an unresolved territorial dispute between the states of Belize (FKA British Honduras, British Settlement in the Bay of Honduras) and Guatemala, neighbours in Central America. During the late 160 ...

since 1999 Guatemala has claimed Belizean territory south of the

Sibun River The Sibun River (Xibun River, formerly Sheboon River) is a river in Belize which drains a large central portion of the country. The Sibun ( Xibun) were ancient Maya people who inhabited the region. The headwaters of the Sibun River are located ...

. On 15 April 2019, the river was the site of a border incident between Guatemala and Belize, when three Guatemalan gun-boats crewed by armed soldiers prevented the Belizean coast guard from patrolling the river.

References

Rivers of Belize Rivers of Guatemala International rivers of North America Belize–Guatemala border Toledo District Border rivers {{Guatemala-river-stub

See also

References