Editing Belize (section)

====The Maya====
The Maya are thought to have been in Belize and the [[Yucatán region]] since the second millennium BCE. Many died in conflicts or by catching disease from invading Europeans. Three Maya groups inhabit the country: The [[Yucatec]] (who came from Yucatán, Mexico, to escape the savage [[Caste War of Yucatán|Caste War]] of the 1840s), the [[Mopan people|Mopan]] (indigenous to Belize but were forced out to Guatemala by the British for raiding settlements; they returned to Belize to evade enslavement by the Guatemalans in the 19th century), and [[Q'eqchi' people|Q'eqchi']] (also fled from slavery in Guatemala in the 19th century).<ref>Cho, Julian (1998).&nbsp;{{cite web|url=http://geography.berkeley.edu/ProjectsResources/MayanAtlas/MayaAtlas/mayahome.htm |title=Maya Homeland |access-date=3 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203235635/http://geography.berkeley.edu/ProjectsResources/MayanAtlas/MayaAtlas/mayahome.htm |archive-date=3 February 2010 }}. University of California Berkeley Geography Department and the Toledo Maya of Southern Belize. Retrieved 4 January 2007.</ref> The latter groups are chiefly found in the [[Toledo District]]. The Maya speak their native languages and Spanish, and are also often fluent in English and Belizean Creole.