{{unreferenced, date=January 2015 Veragua or Veraguas was the name of five Spanish colonial territorial entities in

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. ...

, beginning in the 16th century during the

Spanish colonization of the Americas Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions ...

. The term was based on a Central American

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

name for the region. It was used for colonial territories in present-day

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

Territorial entities

The Spanish colonial territorial entities with the name Veragua include:

Governorate of Veragua — 1502–1537

*The Governorate of Veragua (''Gobernación de Veragua'') (1502–1537) included the Caribbean coast of present-day

( Mosquito Coast) and

and the coast of

as far as the Río Belén, namely, the coastline explored by

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

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 Nicuesa Diego de Nicuesa (; died 1511) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. Background Diego arrived Santo Domingo in April 1502, with Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres' flotilla. In 1506, Nicuesa was given the job of governing Costa Rica, but ran agro ...

and Felipe Gutiérrez y Toledo.

Duchy of Veragua — 1537–1560

*The Duchy 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 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 ...

. In 1556 he returned the territory to the Crown but retained the ducal title.

Royal Veragua — 1537–1540

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 ...

(''Veragua Real'') (1537–1540) included those territories of the Governorate of 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 Oro Castilla de Oro or del 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 th ...

, became 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 ...

within the Spanish

Captaincy General of Guatemala The Captaincy General of Guatemala ( es, Capitanía General de Guatemala), also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala ( es, Reino de Guatemala), was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central ...

(Kingdom of Guatemala).

Province of Veragua — 1560–1821

*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

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 ...

Present day

;Veraguas Province *

Veraguas Province Veraguas () is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. It is the only Panamanian province to border both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It covers an area of 10,587.6&n ...

is a present-day Province of the Republic of Panama.

References

*This article is a free translation of the article Veragua at the Spanish Wikipedia, accessed February 2, 2007. Colonial Central America Colonial Panama History of Nicaragua History of Costa Rica Governorates of the Spanish Empire Provinces of the Spanish Empire 1500s in North America 1510s in North America 1520s in North America 1530s in North America 1560 in North America 16th century in Central America Spanish colonization of the Americas