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Spanish Caribbean

Spanish West Indies
Las Antillas Occidentales
Antillas Españolas
Colony of Spain
(Territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1492 to 1898)
1492–1898
Flag Coat of arms
A map of the Spanish West Indies
Capital Santo Domingo (1511–1764)
Languages Spanish
Religion Roman Catholicism
Political structure Colony
Monarch
 •  1492–1504 Ferdinand II
 •  1492–1504 Isabella I
 •  1896–1898 Alfonso XIII
Historical era Spanish colonization
 •  Established 1492
 •  Treaty of Paris 1898
Currency Spanish colonial real
Preceded by
Succeeded by
New Spain
Bay Islands
Colony of Jamaica
Cayman Islands
Saint-Domingue
Trinidad
Dominican Republic
United States Protectorate over Cuba
Puerto Rico
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The Spanish West Indies or Spanish Antilles (also known as "Las Antillas Occidentales" or simply "Antillas Españolas" in Spanish) was the former name of the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean. It became a territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain when the viceroyalty was created in 1535.

It consisted of the present day nations of Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, Guadalupe and the Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Trinidad, and the Bay Islands.

The islands that later became the Spanish West Indies were the focus of the voyages of Christopher Columbus in America. Largely due to the familiarity that Europeans gained from Columbus's voyages, the islands were also the first lands to be permanently colonized by Europeans in the Americas. The Spanish West Indies were also the most enduring part of Spain's American Empire, only being surrendered in 1898 at the end of the Spanish–American War. For over three centuries, Spain controlled a network of ports in the Caribbean including Havana (Cuba), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), and Veracruz (Mexico) which were connected by galleon routes.


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