Belize City

Belize City is the largest city in Belize, at the mouth of Haulover Creek on the Caribbean coast, serving as the country's principal port and financial center, with a population of about 64,000 at the 2022 census. Founded in 1638 by English lumber harvesters, it remained Belize's capital until 1970, when the government moved to the newly built Belmopan, and it grew historically on the export of logwood and mahogany. Hurricane Hattie almost entirely destroyed the city in October 1961, and it remains vulnerable to tropical storms and flooding, but it still hosts branches of all the country's major banks and serves as the hub of its national and international transportation.