MAYA MOUNTAINS

Spanish Montaas Mayas, range of hills mostly in southern Belize, extending about 70 miles (115 km) northeastward from across the Guatemalan border into central Belize. The range falls abruptly to the coastal plain to the east and north but more gradually to the west, becoming the Vaca Plateau, which extends into eastern Guatemala. Both the range and the plateau are extensively dissected and of uniform elevation throughout, the highest point being reached at Victoria Peak (3,680 feet ) in the transverse Cockscomb Range, which extends seaward perpendicularly from the main divide. The mountains take their name from the Maya people, who retreated into the mountains before the Spaniards, leaving great centres, such as Lubaantun on the mountains' southeastern periphery, deserted behind them.