Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada

Viceroyalty of New Granada
Virreinato de la Nueva Granada
Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire
1717–1821
Naval flag of Spain since 1785 and of maritime places and coastal forts from 1793 Coat of arms of Bogotá
Motto Vtraque Vnvm "Out of two (worlds) one"
Anthem Marcha Real "Royal March"
Viceroyalty of New Granada
Capital		Bogotá
Languages		Castilian Spanish
Religion		Christianity (Roman Catholicism)
Government		Monarchy
Kings
•	1717–1724 (first)	Philip V
•	1813–1821 (last)	Ferdinand VII
Viceroy
•	1718–1719 (first)	Antonio Ignacio de la Pedrosa y Guerrero
•	1819–1821 (last)	Juan de la Cruz Mourgeón
Historical era		Spanish colonization of the Americas
•	Established	27 May 1717
•	Suppressed.	5 November 1723
•	Reestablished.	20 August 1739
•	Separation of Venezuelan territory	8 September 1777
•	Independence declared.	20 July 1810
•	Reconquered.	3 September 1816
•	Disestablished	7 August 1821
Currency		Spanish colonial real
Preceded by Succeeded by New Spain New Kingdom of Granada Venezuela Province Venezuela Province Captaincy General of Venezuela Gran Colombia Trinidad and Tobago
Today part of		Brazil  Colombia  Ecuador  Guyana  Panama  Peru  Trinidad and Tobago  Venezuela

The Viceroyalty of New Granada (Spanish: Virreinato de la Nueva Granada) was the name given on 27 May 1717, to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in northern South America, corresponding to modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. The territory corresponding to Panama was incorporated later in 1739, and the provinces of Venezuela were separated from the Viceroyalty and assigned to the Captaincy General of Venezuela in 1777. In addition to these core areas, the territory of the Viceroyalty of New Granada included Guyana, southwestern Suriname, parts of northwestern Brazil, and northern Peru.

Nearly two centuries after the establishment of the New Kingdom of Granada in the 16th century, whose governor was dependent upon the Viceroy of Peru at Lima, and an audiencia at Santa Fé de Bogotá (today capital of the republic of Colombia), the slowness of communications between the two capitals led to the creation of an independent Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717 (and its reestablishment in 1739 after a short interruption). Other provinces corresponding to modern Ecuador, the eastern and southern parts of today's Venezuela, and Panama came together in a political unit under the jurisdiction of Bogotá, confirming that city as one of the principal administrative centers of the Spanish possessions in the New World, along with Lima and Mexico City. Sporadic attempts at reform were directed at increasing efficiency and centralizing authority, but control from Spain was never very effective.

The rough and diverse geography of northern South America and the limited range of proper roads made travel and communications within the viceroyalty difficult. The establishment of an autonomous Captaincy General in Caracas in 1777 and the preservation of the older Audiencia of Quito, nominally subject to the Viceroy but for most purposes independent, was a response to the necessities of effectively governing the peripheral regions. Some analysts also consider that these measures reflected a degree of local traditions that eventually contributed to the differing political and national differences among these territories once they became independent in the nineteenth century and which the unifying efforts of Simón Bolívar could not overcome.