Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Virreinato del Río de la Plata
Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire
1776–1814
Naval flag of Spain since 1785 and of maritime places and coastal forts from 1793
Motto Plus Ultra "Further Beyond"
Anthem Marcha Real "Royal March"
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and disputed de jure extension (light green)
Capital		Buenos Aires (1776–1810) Montevideo (1811–1814)
Languages		Spanish
Religion		Roman Catholicism
Government		Monarchy
King		Kings of Spain
Viceroyalty		List of Viceroys
		List of Governors List of Intendentes
History
•	Established	1 August 1776
•	British invasions of the Río de la Plata	1st – 2 January 1806 2nd – 3 February 1807
•	May Revolution	25 May 1810
•	Independence of Paraguay	14 May 1811
•	Fall of Montevideo	20 June 1814
Currency		Spanish colonial real
Preceded by Succeeded by Viceroyalty of Peru United Provinces of the Río de la Plata Paraguay Bolivia

Naval flag of Spain since 1785 and of maritime places and coastal forts from 1793

The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (Spanish: Virreinato del Río de la Plata) was the last to be organized and also the shortest-lived of the Viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.

The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 from several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata Basin, roughly the present-day territories of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, extending inland from the Atlantic Coast.Buenos Aires, located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata estuary flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, opposite the Portuguese outpost of Colonia del Sacramento, was chosen as the capital. Usually considered one of the late Bourbon Reforms, the organization of this viceroyalty was motivated on both commercial grounds (Buenos Aires was by then a major spot for illegal trade), as well as on security concerns brought about by the growing interest of competing foreign powers in the area. The Spanish Crown wanted to protect its territory against Great Britain and the Kingdom of Portugal.