BELIZE

BELIZE.

Commemoration of independence, 21 September 1981.
Political map with the administrative districts.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 10.02.1982.
Face value: 35 cents of Belize dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 50 x 35 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 623.
- Scott No. 595.
- StampWorld No. 328.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 658.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 573.

The territory of present-day Belize was part of the Mayan cultural area. The Spanish conquerors explored the region from 1519, they incorporated it into the Crown of Castile and the territory became part of the General Captaincy of Guatemala, but they did not colonize it. In 1716 some British loggers settled in the Belize River region, but initially the British government not considerate the region as a colony, thus respecting the Spanish presence. However, in 1862 Great Britain formally declared the territory a British Crown colony subordinate to Jamaica, and named it British Honduras. In 1949 a People's Committee was created, which demanded independence; in 1973 the colony recovered the name of Belize, and despite Guatemala's claims to the territory, it proclaimed its independence on September 21, 1981. Guatemala did not recognize the new country until 1992.