New River (Belize)
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 and birds, as well as Morelet's crocodiles. Biodiversity The New River is host to a diverse array of wildlife including freshwater fish, birds, turtles and Morelet's crocodiles. Among the species of turtle native to the river is the critically endangered Hickatee. Tours Boat tours are available from several sources. Tours of Lamanai use the river as transportation to reach the site. Pollution Sugarcane production along with other factors has caused large amounts of industrial and agricultural runoff to enter the New River since at l ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Belize
Belize is a country on the north-eastern 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 maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. Part of the Caribbean region, Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Commonwealth Caribbean, the historical British West Indies. The Maya civilization spread into the area of Belize between 1500 BCE and 300 CE and flourished until about 1200. European contact began in 1502–04 when Christopher Columbus sailed along the Gulf of Honduras. European exploration was begun by English settlers in 1638. Spanish Empire, Spain and Kingdom of Great Britain, Britain both laid claim to the land until Britain defeated the Spanish in the Battle of St. George's Caye (1798). It became British Honduras, a British colony in 1840, and a Crown colony in 1862. Belize achieved its independence from the United Kingdom on 21 September ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Orange Walk District
Orange Walk is a Districts of Belize, district in the northwest of the nation of Belize, with its district capital in Orange Walk Town. Demographics Main settlements The Orange Walk District, with an area of 1,829 square miles (4,636 square km), is located north-northwest of the Belize District. This is the second largest district in terms of total area in comparison to other districts in Belize, and lies between the Belize and Corozal District, Corozal districts to the east, Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west. Villages in Orange Walk District include August Pine Ridge, Blue Creek (Belize), Blue Creek, Carmelita, Belize, Carmelita, Chan Pine Ridge, Douglas, Belize, Douglas, Indian Church, Belize, Indian Church, Guinea Grass, San Antonio, Belize, San Antonio, San Carlos, Belize, San Carlos, San Estevan, Belize, San Estevan, San Felipe, Orange Walk, San Felipe, San José, Belize, San José, San Jose Palmar, Nuevo San Juan, Belize, Nuevo San Juan, San Lazaro, Belize, San L ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chetumal Bay
Chetumal Bay is a semi-closed mesohaline estuary on the southern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is located in northern Belize and southeastern Mexico. Geography The mouth of Chetumal Bay is directed southward and buffered by the large Belizean island of Ambergris Caye. Corozal Bay is a smaller inland inlet, that extends to the southwest in the upper region of Chetumal Bay. It is named after the town of Corozal on it. Chetumal is a major city on the bay, located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Blue holes Chetumal Bay contains several blue hole A blue hole is a large marine cavern or sinkhole, which is open to the surface and has developed in a bank or island composed of a carbonate bedrock (limestone or coral reef). Blue holes typically contain tidally influenced water of fresh, ma ...s, most notably the Taam Ja' Blue Hole. With a depth of at least , it is the world deepest known blue hole. See also * * References Bays of the Caribbean Bays of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maya Civilization
The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. The civilization is also noted for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya civilization developed in the Maya Region, an area that today comprises southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. It includes the northern lowlands of the Yucatán Peninsula and the Guatemalan Highlands of the Sierra Madre, the Mexican state of Chiapas, southern Guatemala, El Salvador, and the southern lowlands of the Pacific littoral plain. Today, their descendants, known collectively as the Maya, number well over 6 million individuals, speak more than twenty-eight surviving Mayan languages, and reside in nearly the s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lamanai
Lamanai (from ''Lama'anayin'', "submerged crocodile" in Yucatec Maya) 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. History Lamanai was occupied as early as the 16th century BC. The site became a prominent centre in the Pre-Classic Period, from the 4th century BC through the 1st century AD. In 625 AD, "Stele 9" was erected there in the Yucatec language of the Maya.Michael P. ClosThe Hier ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Morelet's Crocodile
Morelet's crocodile (''Crocodylus moreletii''), also known as the Mexican crocodile or Belize crocodile, is a modest-sized crocodilian found only in the Atlantic regions of Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. It usually grows to about in length. It is a species at least concern for extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The species has a fossil record in Guatemala. Taxonomy and etymology Morelet's crocodile was first described in 1850 in Mexico by the French naturalist Pierre Marie Arthur Morelet. The species was subsequently named after him. It was long confused with the American and Cuban crocodiles because of similar characteristics and an ambiguous type locality. It was not generally accepted as a separate species until the 1920s. Evolution The genus '' Crocodylus'' likely originated in Africa and radiated outwards towards Southeast Asia and the Americas, although an Australia/Asia origin has also been considered. Phylogenetic evidence ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hickatee
The hickatee (''Dermatemys mawii'') or in Spanish ''tortuga blanca'' ('white turtle'), also called the Central American river turtle, is the only living species in the family Dermatemydidae. The species is found in the Atlantic drainages of Central America, specifically Belize, Guatemala, southern Mexico, and probably Honduras. It is a relatively large-bodied species, with records of straight carapace length and weights of ; although most individuals are smaller. This is a herbivorous and almost completely aquatic turtle that does not even surface to bask. Bizarrely for reptiles, the eggs can remain viable even after being underwater for weeks -in the recent past, some scientists mistakenly claimed it nests underwater, likely due to visiting Central America during a frequent flood, when nests are often submerged. In the culture of the Ancient Mayan civilisation this species and turtles in general had numerous uses such as being used in warfare, as musical instruments and as fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eutrophication
Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the surface of a river, lake, etc., often because chemicals that are used to help crops grow have been carried there by rain. Eutrophication may occur naturally or as a result of human actions. Manmade, or cultural, eutrophication occurs when sewage, Industrial wastewater treatment, industrial wastewater, fertilizer runoff, and other nutrient sources are released into the environment. Such nutrient pollution usually causes algal blooms and bacterial growth, resulting in the depletion of dissolved oxygen in water and causing substantial environmental degradation. Many policies have been introduced to combat eutrophication, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)'s sustainability development goals. Approaches for prevention and re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rivers Of Belize ...
These are the main rivers of Belize. Belize has a total of 35 major and minor river catchments or watersheds which drain into the Caribbean Sea. Rivers Resources * * * (includes map of watersheds) {{North America topic, List of rivers of * Belize Rivers Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern 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 maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |