Originally inhabited by the Mayan people, Belize saw its first European settlers around 1638.
The film is based on the Mayan doomsday prediction, which will apparently happen in the year 2012.
Pyramid at CHICHEN ITZA, Mexico: This step pyramid surmounted by a temple was part of a sacred site in an important Mayan center on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.
A codex is a Mayan written record.
This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then, just as your calendar begins again on January 1, another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.
Now, purely as a consequence of the Long Count's numerical value, many Mayan scholars agree that the calendar will "run out" after 5,126 years (or, at least, it's first cycle does).
The judging is based on contestants' knowledge of Mayan culture and the beauty of their costumes.
Surprisingly, the Mayan calendar also took a backseat and it was little more than a back story for most of the film.
No wonder their name derives from the angry Mayan god of storms and wind: Huracán.
The prophecies of Mayan.
Until recently it had been a monopoly of the ladinos (people of European or mixed ancestry), even though some 40% of Guatemala's population of 13m is of Mayan descent.
'The Mayan texts say nothing about this,' said Carlos Barrios, a leading Mayan shaman, over the phone Wednesday.
Mexico is a country with a time-honored civilization. The Mayan pyramids and Aztec Sun Calendar both stand testimony to the splendor of your ancient civilization.
Emmerich loosely bases his story on an old Mayan legend that the world will end in 2012.
