Spanish West Indies

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.