Monkey River Town is a village in the north of the
Toledo District of the
Central American nation of
Belize. It is on the
Caribbean Sea on the southern shore of the mouth of Belize's Monkey River, at 16° 21' 0N, 88° 28' 60W. In
2000 the estimated population was 200 people. As no roads reach Monkey River Town, almost all traffic to here is by sea. The main occupations are
fishing and
rice farming.
The village here was incorporated as a town in
1891 at which time it had a population of some 2500 people, mostly engaged in the
lumber and
banana industry. With the decline of these industries and a blight of banana trees in this area in the second half of the
20th century the population declined, and in
1981 was legally reclassified as a village again, although retaining the historic name of "Town".