The Venezuela Province (or Province of Caracas) was a province of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

(from 1527), of

Gran Colombia Gran Colombia (, "Great Colombia"), or Greater Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish: ''República de Colombia''), was a state that encompassed much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819 to ...

(1824-1830) and later of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

(from 1830), apart from an interlude (1528 - 1546) when it was contracted as a concession by the King of Spain to the German

Welser Welser was a German banking and merchant family, originally a patrician family based in Augsburg and Nuremberg, that rose to great prominence in international high finance in the 16th century as bankers to the Habsburgs and financiers of C ...

banking family, as Klein-Venedig.

Colonial history

It has its origins with the 1527 foundation of

Santa Ana de Coro Coro, historically known as Neu-Augsburg, is the capital of Falcón State and the second oldest city of Venezuela (after Cumaná). It was founded on July 26, 1527, by Juan de Ampíes as Santa Ana de Coro. It is established at the south of the Pa ...

Juan de Ampíes ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, the province's first governor. Coro was the province's capital until 1546, followed by

El Tocuyo El Tocuyo is a fertile valley and city in west-central Venezuela at elevation. It is located in south-central Lara State about 60 km southwest of Barquisimeto. The town of El Tocuyo was founded by Juan de Carvajal in 1545 on the banks of the T ...

(1546 - 1577). The capital was moved to

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in th ...

in 1577Distrito Capital
by

Juan de Pimentel Juan de Pimentel was an early governor of Venezuela Province, the Venezuela Province being one of the Spanish Empire. Under his governorship (1576 - 1583) the capital of the Province was moved from El Tocuyo to Caracas. He was a Knight of the Ord ...

. At one time

Calabozo Calabozo, officially Villa de Todos los Santos de Calabozo, is a city in Venezuela located in the Guárico state, capital of the Francisco de Miranda Municipality and former capital of the state. It has a population of 168,605, according to t ...

(founded 1724) was its capital. Early on, the province was defined in relation to the Venezuelan coastline (with Margarita Province to the north covering the

Isla Margarita Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the island. History ...

region).

New Andalusia Province New Andalusia Province or Province of Cumaná (1537–1864) was a province of the Spanish Empire, and later of Gran Colombia and Venezuela. It included the territory of present-day Venezuelan states Sucre, Anzoátegui and Monagas. Its most imp ...

(created 1537) soon provided an eastern boundary, excepting a brief period (1633-1654) when the short-lived New Catalonia Province existed between the Venezuela and New Andalusia provinces.

Guayana Province Guayana Province (1585−1864) was a former province of Spanish Colonial Venezuela and independent Venezuela, located in the Guyana region of northeastern South America. The province was part of the Spanish colonial New Andalusia Province and ...

(created 1585) formed a southern boundary. Matters in the west were more complex and fluid, but the Maracaibo Province (from 1676) formed clearly the largest part until the Barinas Province was split from it in 1786. For most of its existence the province was subject to the legal and administrative supervision of the Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo (except for two short periods from 1717 to 1723 and 1739 to 1742). Administrative supervision was transferred to the

Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of New Granada ( es, Virreinato de Nueva Granada, links=no ) also called Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada or Viceroyalty of Santafé was the name given on 27 May 1717, to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in norther ...

when this was created in 1717, and in 1777 to the new

Captaincy General of Venezuela The Captaincy General of Venezuela ( es, Capitanía General de Venezuela), also known as the Kingdom of Venezuela (), was an administrative district of colonial Spain, created on September 8, 1777, through the Royal Decree of Graces of 1777, t ...

. Legal supervision by Santo Domingo ended in 1786 when the Royal Audience of Caracas became functional within the new Captaincy-General.

Independence

The province was one of the 7 which signed the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence. Towards the end of the

Venezuelan War of Independence The Venezuelan War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, links=no, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought agai ...

it was incorporated into

, initially dissolved within the Venezuela Department which represented the entire Captaincy General. In 1824 it was recreated (minus territory lost to the new

Carabobo Province Carabobo Province (1824–1864) was one of the provinces of Gran Colombia, and later one of the provinces of Venezuela, after Venezuelan independence in 1830. It was split from Caracas Province. In Gran Colombia it belonged to the Venezuela ...

) as a reduced Caracas Province within a much smaller Venezuela Department. With the independence of Venezuela in 1830, the province was one of 11, becoming one of 13 by 1840. In 1848

Aragua Province Aragua State ( es, Estado Aragua, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains and jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first ...

and

Guárico Province ) , anthem = '' Himno del Estado Guárico'' , image_map = Guarico in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_a ...

were split from Caracas. Following the Federal War, the

States of Venezuela The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a federation made up of twenty-three states ('' es, estados''), a Capital District ('' es, Distrito Capital'') and the Federal Dependencies ('' es, Dependencias Federales''), which consist of many islan ...

were created in 1864, and the province ceased to exist.

References

{{coord missing, Venezuela Provinces of the Spanish Empire Provinces of Venezuela Spanish colonization of the Americas 1864 disestablishments in South America Colonial Venezuela

Colonial history

Independence

See also

References