British Honduras

British Settlements on the Bay of Honduras (1787–1862) Crown Colony of British Honduras (1862–1973) Belize (1973–1981)
1783–1981
Flag (1919–1981) Coat of arms (1907–1967)
Anthem:  God Save the King/Queen
Status	Crown colony of the United Kingdom
Capital	Belize City (1862–1971) Belmopan (1971–1981)
Common languages	English, Spanish, Belizean Creole, Garifuna, Mayan languages
Monarch
• 1783–1820	George III
• 1820–1830	George IV
• 1830–1837	William IV
• 1837–1901	Victoria
• 1901–1910	Edward VII
• 1910–1936	George V
• 1936	Edward VIII
• 1936–1952	George VI
• 1952–1981	Elizabeth II
Governor
• 1787–1790	Edward Marcus Despard
• 1980–1981	James Hennessey
Legislature	Legislative Council
History
• Treaty of Versailles (1783)	1783
• Crown colony	1862
• Self-governing	1 January 1964
• Renamed	1 June 1973
• Independence	21 September 1981
Population
• 1861[1]	25,635
Currency	British Honduran dollar
ISO 3166 code	BZ
Preceded by Succeeded by Captaincy General of Guatemala First Mexican Empire Federal Republic of Central America Belize

British Honduras was a Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,^[2] until September 1981, when it gained full independence as Belize. British Honduras was the last continental possession of the United Kingdom in the Americas.

The colony grew out of the Treaty of Versailles (1783) between Britain and Spain, which gave the British rights to cut logwood between the Hondo and Belize rivers. The Convention of London (1786) expanded this concession to include the area between the Belize and Sibun rivers.^[3] In 1862, the Settlement of Belize in the Bay of Honduras was declared a British colony called British Honduras, and the Crown's representative was elevated to a lieutenant governor, subordinate to the governor of Jamaica.^[4]