<Li> <P> Belize </P> </Li> <P> The territory that now makes up Belize was heavily contested in a dispute that continued for decades after Guatemala achieved independence (see History of Belize (1506--1862). Spain, and later Guatemala, considered this land a Guatemalan department . In 1862, Britain formally declared it a British colony and named it British Honduras . It became independent as Belize in 1981 . </P> <P> Panama, situated in the southernmost part of Central America on the Isthmus of Panama, has for most of its history been culturally linked to South America . Panama was part of the Province of Tierra Firme from 1510 until 1538 when it came under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Audiencia Real de Panama . Beginning in 1543, Panama was administered as part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, along with all other Spanish possessions in South America . Panama remained as part of the Viceroyalty of Peru until 1739, when it was transferred to the Viceroyalty of New Granada, the capital of which was located at Santa Fé de Bogotá . Panama remained as part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada until the disestablishment of that viceroyalty in 1819 . A series of military and political struggles took place from that time until 1822, the result of which produced the republic of Gran Colombia . After the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830, Panama became part of a successor state, the Republic of New Granada . From 1855 until 1886, Panama existed as Panama State, first within the Republic of New Granada, then within the Granadine Confederation, and finally within the United States of Colombia . The United States of Colombia was replaced by the Republic of Colombia in 1886 . As part of the Republic of Colombia, Panama State was abolished and it became the Isthmus Department . Despite the many political reorganizations, Colombia was still deeply plagued by conflict, which eventually led to the secession of Panama on 3 November 1903 . Only after that time did some begin to regard Panama as a North or Central American entity . </P> <P> By the 1930s the United Fruit Company owned 3.5 million acres of land in Central America and the Caribbean and was the single largest land owner in Guatemala . Such holdings gave it great power over the governments of small countries . That was one of the factors that led to the coining of the phrase Banana Republic . </P>

South american country that connects to north america