{{Infobox river | name = Sheboon River | name_other = Sibun River, Xibun River | name_etymology = The ancient Xibun Mayans | image = Xibun River.jpg | image_caption = The characteristic meanders of the lower reaches of the Sibun before it flows into the Caribbean | image_size = 220px | source1_location = Maya Mountains | source1_coordinates= {{coord|17|04|N|88|44|W|region:BZ}} | mouth_location = Caribbean Sea 10 km south-west of Belize City | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|17|25|N|88|15|W|region:BZ|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Belize | length = | source1_elevation = {{convert|600|m|abbr=on}} | mouth_elevation = {{convert|0|m|abbr=on}} | discharge1_avg = | basin_size = Caribbean Sea }}
The '''Sibun River''' ('''Xibun River''', formerly '''Sheboon River''')<ref>{{cite news |url=https://issuu.com/lucilo/docs/belize_times_september_4__2011/34 |title=Think About It |first=Willand |last=Sharper |newspaper=Belize Times |date=4 September 2011 |access-date=27 February 2020}}</ref> is a river in Belize which drains a large central portion of the country.<ref>Boles, Ed (1999). ''The Sibun River Watershed Atlas''. Sibun Watershed Association and The Government Printer, Belmopan, Belize.</ref> The Sibun (Xibun) were ancient Maya people who inhabited the region. [[File:Belize Sibun River Laslovarga01.JPG|200px|thumb|left|Sibun River, view from Hummingbird Highway]] The headwaters of the Sibun River are located within the Maya Mountains, at approximately 800 meters above sea level, where the Sibun is known as the Caves Branch River. The river then flows through a gorge until it reaches an alluvial floodplain, where citrus and cacao plantations exist. Here the river valley is flanked by karst topography featuring Maya cave sites.<ref>McAnany, Patricia A., and Ben S. Thomas, editors (2002). ''Sacred Landscape and Settlement in the Sibun River Valley'', Institute for Mesoamerican Studies Occasional Publication 8. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies at the State University of New York, Albany.</ref> Before the river reaches the village of Freetown Sibun, river figs and spiny bamboo (''Guadua longifolia'') are common along its banks; along the stretch of river between the coast and the village, mangroves are predominant. It empties into the Caribbean Sea, south of Belize City.
The Sibun River Watershed features several vegetation types, including tropical evergreen seasonal mixed needle forest, broadleaf forest, mangroves, and agriculture.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Paleoecology of mangroves along the Sibun River, Belize|journal = Quaternary Research|date = 2011-09-01|pages = 220–228|volume = 76|issue = 2|doi = 10.1016/j.yqres.2011.06.001|first1 = Natalie M.|last1 = Monacci|first2 = Ursula|last2 = Meier-Grünhagen|first3 = Bruce P.|last3 = Finney|first4 = Hermann|last4 = Behling|first5 = Matthew J.|last5 = Wooller| s2cid=129882614 }}</ref>
The Sibun Watershed Association is a local organization focused on environmental issues within the watershed.
Since 1999 Guatemala has claimed all Belizean land south of the Sibun River, although the claim is not internationally recognized.<ref name=Lauterpacht2001>{{cite web|last=Lauterpacht|first=Elihu|title=Legal Opinion on Guatemala's Territorial Claim to Belize|url=http://www.mfa.gov.bz/public/Data/281717574571.pdf|access-date=10 November 2012|author2=Stephen Schwebel|author3=Shabtai Rosenne|author4=Francisco Orrego Vicuña|page=7|date=November 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112122439/http://www.mfa.gov.bz/public/Data/281717574571.pdf|archive-date=12 November 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The current internationally accepted southern Belizean–Guatemalan border is the Sarstoon River. The claim is central to the ongoing Belizean–Guatemalan territorial dispute. Mexico once claimed the portion of Belize north of the Sibun River but dropped the claim in a treaty with Britain in 1893. Since then, Mexico has stated that it would revive the claim only if Guatemala were successful in obtaining all or part of the nation.
The lower reaches of the river are prominent in scenes from the 1986 film ''The Mosquito Coast''.
== References == {{Reflist}} {{Commons category|Sibun River}}
Category:Rivers of Belize