Veragua
Encyclopedia
Veragua or Veraguas was the name of five territorial entities in Central America, beginning in the sixteenth century during the Spanish colonial period. It was based on an Indigenous name for the region.
- The Gobernación de Veragua (1502-1537) included the Caribbean coast of present-day NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
and the coast of PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
as far as the Río Belén, namely, the coastline explored by Christopher ColumbusChristopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
on his fourth voyage, in 1502. It was this area that Columbus (and his heirs) claimed as his private domain, but which the Crown did not recognize. Spanish governors of this territory were Diego de NicuesaDiego de NicuesaDiego de Nicuesa was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. In 1506, he was given the job of governing Costa Rica, but ran aground off the coast of Panama. He made his way north overland, against resistance from the native population...
and Felipe Gutiérrez y Toledo.
- The Duchy of VeraguaDuchy of VeraguaThe Duchy of Veragua was a Spanish hereditary domain created in 1537 in the reign of King Charles I in a small section of the territory of Veragua...
, created in 1537 from the Gobernación de Veragua in territory now belonging to Panama. The first duke was Luis Colón y Toledo, grandson and heir of Columbus, who received the title after a long lawsuit with the Crown of CastileCrown of CastileThe Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
. In 1556 he returned the territory to the Crown but retained the ducal title.
- Royal VeraguaRoyal VeraguaRoyal Veragua was a territory of the Crown of Castile in the early colonial period in the New World. It included the Caribbean slopes from the Río Sixaola to the island Escudo de Veraguas, in what is now Panama...
(Veragua Real) (1537-1540) included those territories of the Gobernación de Veragua not included in the Duchy of Veragua. These territories were in two parts, with the duchy separating them. In 1540 the western part, together with territories from Castilla de OroCastilla de OroCastilla de Oro was the name given by the Spanish settlers at the beginning of the 16th century to the Central American territories from the Gulf of Urabá, near today's Colombian-Panamanian border, to the Belén River. Beyond that river, the region was known as Veragua, and was disputed by the...
, became the Province of Nuevo Cartago y Costa RicaNuevo Cartago y Costa RicaNuevo Cartago y Costa Rica was a province of the Kingdom of Guatemala, created in 1540 during the reign of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor . It was formed from two earlier Spanish territories...
within the Spanish Kingdom of GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
.
- The Province of Veragua, formed in 1560 from territories formerly in the Duchy of Veragua. Its first governor was Francisco Vázquez. This territory, slightly expanded to the west and the south, became a dependency of the Intendencia of Panama, and in 1821, of the Republic of ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
- Veraguas ProvinceVeraguas ProvinceVeraguas is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. The province covers 10,677.2 km² and is divided into twelve districts.-History:...
is today one of the provinces of the Republic of Panama.