SAN IGNACIO

formerly El Cayo, or Cayo, town, west-central Belize (formerly British Honduras). It lies along the Belize River, near the Guatemalan border. With Benque Viejo del Carmen, which is about 8 miles (13 km) southwest, it traditionally dealt in chicle and lumber, but these products have now largely been replaced by cattle and corn (maize), beans, and rice. Some trade is carried on with Guatemala. Its inhabitants are mostly Maya Indians, mestizos, and a substantial number of Mennonites, whose first settlement there dates from 1958. Pop. (1980) town, 5,616.