Sarstoon Island is an island at the southernmost point of Belize located near the mouth of the Sarstoon River. The main channel of Sarstoon River is located south of Sarstoon Island and forms part of the Belize–Guatemala border. Sarstoon Island is part of the Toledo District of

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 ...

, which is one of 6 districts of the country. The island is mostly mangrove

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

land and is uninhabited. It covers approximately . Sarstoon Island has been a focal point of the Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute, with

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

recently making claims to the island. Guatemalan Armed Forces (GAF) routinely patrol the waters of Sarstoon Island and illegally enter Belizean waters while preventing Belizean civilians from freely traversing the area belonging to Belize. There have been various incidents like these in recent years from 2015 to present, especially documented by the Belize Territorial Volunteers and leader Wil Maheia. According to the Wyke-Aycinena Treaty of 1859, "any islands which may be found ithin the Sarstoon Rivershall belong to that Party on whose side of the main navigable channel they are situated." In 1860, commissioners for

British Honduras British Honduras was a Crown colony on the east coast of Central America — specifically located on the southern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony — renamed Belize from June 1973

(now Belize) and Guatemala surveyed the Sarstoon River and found that the river's current predominantly passed to the south of the island, making Sarstoon Island part of the territory of British Honduras. A map was drawn up from the survey results showing the boundary running along the southern channel. Both commissioners signed the map on May 13, 1861, certifying that the boundaries shown on it were correct. Guatemala later terminated the agreement, arguing that the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

had failed to live up to the conditions of the treaty. In 2015, the government of Belize announced its intentions to build a

forward operating base A forward operating base (FOB) is any secured forward operational level military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support strategic goals and tactical objectives. A FOB may contain an airbase, hospital, machine shop, and othe ...

for the Belize Coast Guard on Sarstoon Island. Due to logistical concerns, however, the government decided to build the base on the mainland instead.

References

{{reflist Uninhabited islands of Belize Belize–Guatemala relations

See also

References