Mopan are one of the Maya peoples

Maya peoples

The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...

 in Belize

Belize

Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

 and Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

. Their indigenous language is also called Mopan

Mopan language

Mopan is a language that belongs to the Yucatecan branch of the Mayan languages. It is spoken by the Mopan people. It is spoken in Belize and Guatemala.The other Yucatecan languages are Yucatec, Lacandon , and Itza....

 and is one of the Yucatec Maya languages.

The British forced the Mopan out of British Honduras into Guatemala. The Mopan in Guatemala meanwhile endured slavery. In the 19th century, many Guatemalan Mopan fled back into British Honduras.

In the 2000 Census, 6,909 Belizeans recorded Mopan as their mother tongue and 6,093 as their first language; 3% the population.