page_title: Belgian colonial empire
section_title: Santo Tomás, Guatemala (1843–54)
hierarchical_section_title: Belgian colonial empire / Minor possessions / Santo Tomás, Guatemala (1843–54)
context_page_description: Belgium controlled two colonies during its history, the Belgian Congo from 1908 to 1960, and Ruanda-Urundi from 1922 to 1962. It also had a small concession in China, and was a co-administrator of the Tangier International Zone in Morocco.
  Roughly 98% of Belgium's overseas territory was just one colony — known as the Belgian Congo. This had originated as the personal property of the country's king, Leopold II, rather than being gained through the political or military action of the Belgian state. Sovereignty was transferred to Belgium in 1908.
context_section_description: In 1842, a ship sent by King Leopold I of Belgium arrived in Guatemala; the Belgians observed the natural riches of the department of Izabal and decided to settle in Santo Tomas de Castilla and build infrastructure in the region. Rafael Carrera gave them the region in exchange for sixteen thousand pesos every year from the government of Guatemala. On 4 May 1843, the Guatemalan parliament issued a decree giving the district of Santo Tomás "in perpetuity" to the Compagnie belge de colonisation, a private Belgian company under the protection of King Leopold I of Belgium. It replaced the failed British Eastern Coast of Central America Commercial and Agricultural Company. Belgian colonizing efforts in Guatemala ceased in 1854, due to lack of financing and high mortality due to yellow fever and malaria, endemic diseases of the tropical climate.
caption: View of the Belgian colony on Santo Thomas
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