Castilla de Oro or del Oro () was the name given by the Spanish settlers at the beginning of the 16th century to the

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

n territories from the Gulf of Urabá, near today's

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

nian

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...

, to the Belén River. Beyond that river, the region was known as Veragua, and was disputed by the Spanish crown along with the

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

family. The name "Castilla de Oro" was made official in May 1513 by King

Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia fro ...

, then regent of the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...

. After Vasco Núñez de Balboa's discovery of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

, Castilla de Oro's jurisdiction was broadened to include the Pacific coasts of Panama,

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...

. With the creation, in 1527, of the Province of Nicaragua, which included today's Nicaragua as well as the Nicoya Peninsula, Castilla de Oro's jurisdiction was reduced. In 1537, once the conflict between the crown and the Columbus family was settled, Castilla de Oro was split up, divided by the Duchy of Veragua. The western portion, which comprised most of Panama's and Costa Rica's Pacific coasts, was merged in 1540 with

Royal Veragua Royal Veragua ( es, Veragua Real) was a Central American territory of the Crown of Castile established in 1537. It encompassed the western part of the former Gobernación de Veragua (1508–1537), from the Caribbean slopes from the Río Sixaola (t ...

, to create the Province of

Nuevo Cartago y Costa Rica Nuevo Cartago y Costa Rica was a province of the Kingdom of Guatemala, created in 1540 during the reign of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (King Charles I of Spain). It was formed from two earlier Spanish territories. The first of these was Royal V ...

. The eastern part, the last remnant of Castilla de Oro, in time became known as the Realm of Tierra Firme, or Panamá, especially after the creation of the Royal Academy of Panamá in 1538. In 1560, the new Province of Veragua, created by Philip II out of the now defunct Duchy of Veragua, was merged with Castilla de Oro.

Governors of Castilla del Oro, 1514–1540

*1514–1526 Pedro Arias Dávila, Governor *1526–1529

Pedro de los Ríos y Gutiérrez de Aguayo Pedro de los Ríos y Gutiérrez de Aguayo (died 1547) was a Spanish colonial administrator who succeeded Pedrarias Dávila as governor of Castilla del Oro (1526–1529) and of Nicaragua (1526–1527). Born in Córdoba, Spain, his parents were Di ...

, Governor *1529–1532

Antonio de la Gama Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

, Interim Governor *1533–1536

Francisco de Barrionuevo Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

, Governor *1536–1539

Pedro Vázquez de Acuña Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

, Governor *1539

Francisco Pérez de Robles Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

, President of the Audiencia of Panama

References

*''This article is a translation of the corresponding article in the Spanish-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of April 21, 2006.' Colonial Central America History of Central America History of Nicaragua Colonial Panama Audencia of Guatemala Spanish colonization of the Americas 1513 establishments in the Spanish Empire {{Panama-geo-stub