The Sarstoon River (Spanish: Río Sarstún ) is a Central American river that forms part of the international border between Belize and Guatemala .
7-564: The source of the 111-kilometer-long river lies in Guatemala's Alta Verapaz Department. It flows eastward, serving as the border between the departments of Petén and Izabal before passing between Belize's Toledo District (to the north) and Guatemala's Izabal Department (to the south) on its way to the Caribbean Sea . Near its mouth lies Sarstoon Island , in Belizean territory. The Sarstoon
14-474: 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 Baja Verapaz , and to the west by El Quiché . Also in Alta Verapaz are the towns of Chisec , San Pedro Carchá and San Cristóbal Verapaz . In pre-Columbian times, this area
21-539: Is the internationally accepted southern border between Belize and Guatemala, although as part of the Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute since 1999 Guatemala has claimed Belizean territory south of the Sibun River . 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
28-635: The Spanish conquest, can trace back their Mayan features and curly hair to that local oral history. Majority of pre-Columbian heritage is seen with straight black hair throughout Guatemala. The department was called Vera Paz by the British in the 19th century. In 1850, the department had an estimated population of 66,000. As a result of the Mexican Drug War , the Los Zetas drug cartel members overtook much of
35-451: The local indigenous people to fight and maintain their freedom. Spanish friars succeeded in converting the area to Christianity, and named the area "Verapaz" meaning "True Peace". In the 19th century this became an important coffee producing region as well as a sugar cane plantation during prior centuries. A museum exists today highlighting the sugar plantation history. In this region of Guatemala, families that trace back their heritage before
42-478: The river. This article related to a river in Belize is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a river in Guatemala is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Alta Verapaz Department 15°30′N 90°20′W / 15.500°N 90.333°W / 15.500; -90.333 Alta Verapaz ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈalta βeɾaˈpas] )
49-597: Was part of the Maya civilization . When the Spanish Conquistadores came in the 1520s they conquered the central and southern highlands of Guatemala, but were driven back from this region by fierce native resistance. Unknown to the history books of this region, local oral history speaks of a former slave ship capsizing prior to the Spaniards arriving upon this area. The former African slaves moved inland, and joined forces with
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