Upper Peru (; ) is a name for the land that was governed by the

Real Audiencia of Charcas The Real Audiencia of Charcas () was a Spanish '' audiencia'' with its seat in what is today Bolivia. It was established in 1559 in Ciudad de la Plata de Nuevo Toledo (later Charcas, modern-day Sucre) and had jurisdiction over the Governorate o ...

. The name originated in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

towards the end of the 18th century after the Audiencia of Charcas was transferred from the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

to the

Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires ( or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or ) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was ...

in 1776.Crespo Rodas, Alberto (1981). ''El ejército de San Martín y las guerrillas del Alto Perú''. La Paz. p. 379 It comprised the governorships of

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Potosí Department, Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the list of highest cities in the world, highest cities in the wo ...

, La Paz,

Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...

, Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas (since renamed

Sucre Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...

). Following the

Bolivian War of Independence The Bolivian War of Independence (, 1809–1825) began with the establishment of Junta (Spanish American Independence), government juntas in Sucre and La Paz, after the Chuquisaca Revolution and La Paz revolution. These Juntas were defeated sho ...

, the region became an independent country and was renamed

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

in honor of

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

History

Nuevo mapa del virreinato del rio de la plata

By 1821, the Spanish colonial empire in Latin America was falling apart because of the Napoleonic occupation of Spain, and the troops of generals Bolívar and

, who had already liberated

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, were already approaching the Upper Peru region. Fearing bloodshed that the libertarian troops could cause the local population, in June 1822 the three governors of Upper Peru departments gathered in

Cuiabá Cuiabá () is the capital city and the largest city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America and also forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várz ...

(Captaincy of

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) and asked the governor to take sides with the Prince Regent (future Emperor Pedro I) to occupy the territory for the

United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves The United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was a pluricontinental monarchy formed by the elevation of the Portuguese colony named State of Brazil to the status of a kingdom and by the simultaneous union of that Kingdom of Brazil ...

. It was better (thought the governors) to be occupied by a monarchical state than to entertain the idea of rule by a fragile and uncertain republic. Immediately, in July of that year, the governor of

sent to Upper Peru the troops stationed in the captaincy and closed the borders to stop the advance of the libertarian troops. He sent to the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

the proposal of the local authorities and the dispatch order of the troops. The letter reached Emperor Pedro I only in November 1822, when

had already declared independence and, worse,

was not interested in attaching that territory, because the new country was more concerned with pacifying the northern and northeastern provinces. Thus, the order given by the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

was to call back the troops (leaving the way clear for the libertarians to occupy these territories) claiming that "

does not interfere in foreign affairs." This episode is poorly documented, the curious thing is that the Generals Antonio Jose de Sucre and

, knowing what was happening, managed to send diplomats in record time to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

and these diplomats arrived even faster than the letter from the governor of

, so the result was that when he got the letter, the

was already "head made" and the evacuation order was already given.

Spanish conquest of Charcas

Initially, the province of Charcas was under the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru until 1776 when the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was established.

As a Río de la Plata province

The Assembly of Buenos Aires advanced to the province of Charcas as part of the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata and had elected representatives of the Provinces of Upper Peru for the Congress of the United Provinces of Río de la Plata.

Counterrevolution

When the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata gained independence, the Viceroy Abascal incorporated Upper Peru to the Viceroyalty of Peru including the province of Charcas.

Brazilian Intervention

The occupation occurred in the region Upper Peru (now

) between July and December 1822, which mobilized the Portuguese royal troops stationed in the Captaincy of

and occupied three of the Peru departments:

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; ), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), Pirai River in the eastern Tropical ...

and the so-called Department Maritmo ( Atacama) .

Colombian Occupation

Between 1823 and 1828 Colombian troops occupied Upper Peru with the leadership of Marshal Antonio José de Sucre, born in Cumaná, as the continuation of the Campaigns of the South. The Republic of Bolívar (based on the Upper Peru) was considered to be a satellite state of Gran Colombia.

Claims by Argentina and Peru

Argentina and Peru claimed some territories of Upper Peru for historical reasons.

References

{{coord missing, Bolivia Colonial Bolivia Viceroyalty of Peru Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata Regions of Bolivia Spanish-speaking countries and territories Historical regions Subdivisions of the Viceroyalty of Peru