The Maya Mountains form a nearly impenetrable backdrop of forest to the north and west, while the expansive somewhat swampy coastal lowlands adjoining the Caribbean Sea lie to the east.

Area soils are relatively fertile for tropical standards, and explain the region's ability to support sizeable indigenous settlements such as Nim Li Punit.

The Maya Mountains and foothills are among the oldest surface rock formations of Central America; these Paleozoic sediments were uplifted about 200 million years ago in the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and Early Permian periods.

[5] Archaeologists have used goods with economic value in Maya culture discovered at Nim li Punit have to draw conclusions on the extent to which these interactions occurred.

Nim Li Punit is constructed in the Classic Period prototypical geometric form, using large amounts of fill material to achieve expansive plazas and terraces.

Evidence from carved stelae document that the site was active in the period 721 to 790 AD, based upon actual Maya calendar dates inscribed on at least six different stones.

As at many other Maya sites, occupation of Nim Li Punit ceased rather suddenly in the 9th century AD, probably associated with areawide overpopulation exceeding the region's carrying capacity of the then prevalent milpa farming system.

These assets, coupled with proximity to ample flowing mountain streams, provided the indigenous Maya at Nim Li Punit a resource base that allowed their civilization to thrive.

While most of the surrounding broadleaf tropical rainforest is secondary growth, due to the disturbance of the Maya themselves, there is considerable biodiversity of trees, herbs, mammals, birds, reptiles and other life forms.

[12] Nim Li Punit was first investigated by archaeologists from outside of Belize in 1976, through research conducted by Norman Hammond of the British Museum-Cambridge University, though site had been known to local Maya people well before this date.