Spanish Empire

Spanish Empire Imperio español (Spanish) Imperium Hispanicum (Latin)
1492–1976
Left: Cross of Burgundy Right: early modern flag
Motto: Plus Ultra (Latin) "Further Beyond"
Anthem: Marcha Real (Spanish) "Royal March"
The Spanish Empire, late 1700s. Territories such as Louisiana or Patagonia were claimed but not fully controlled.
Capital	Itinerant court (1492–1561) Madrid (1561–1601, 1606–1976) Valladolid (1601–1606)
Official languages	Spanish
Other languages	See list Neapolitan Sicilian Sardinian Guanche Aragonese Berber Asturian Basque Catalan/Valencian Occitan Lombard Galician Andalusian Arabic (until the early 17th century) Portuguese Italian Luxembourgish Dutch Quechua Nahuatl Zapotec Mayan Cebuano Chinese Tagalog and other various indigenous and non-indigenous languages
Religion	Roman Catholicism[a]
Demonym(s)	Spaniard or Spanish
Membership	Trastámara Habsburgs Capetian dynasty ((Bourbons) (House of Valois, House of Valois-Burgundy, House of Capet)) House of Bonaparte House of Savoy
Government	Composite monarchy 1492–1700 Absolute monarchy 1700–1820, 1823–1833, 1923–1930 Constitutional monarchy 1820–1823, 1833–1873, 1874–1923, 1930–1931 1975[1]–1976 Parliamentary monarchy 1823–1923, 1975–1976 Republic 1873–1874, 1931–1939 Dictatorship 1939[2]–1975 Democratic transition period 1975–1976
Head of state
• 1492–1516	Catholic Monarchs (first)
• 1975–1976	Juan Carlos I (last)
History
• Christopher Colombus discovers the Americas	12 October 1492
• Spanish colonization of the Americas begins	1493
• Conquest of Navarre	1512–29
• Conquest of the Aztec Empire	1519–21
• Magellan's circumnavigation	1519–22
• Conquest of the Maya	1524–1697
• Conquest of the Inca Empire	1532–72
• Conquest of the Muisca	1537–40
• Establishment of the Spanish East Indies	27 April 1565
• Iberian Union	1580–1640
• Spanish American wars of independence	1808–33
• Withdrawal from the Spanish Sahara	1976
Area
1780[3]	13,700,000 km2 (5,300,000 sq mi)
Currency	Spanish real Escudo (from 1537) Spanish dollar (from 1598) Spanish peseta (from 1869)
Preceded by Succeeded by Catholic Monarchs of Spain Kingdom of Spain Kingdom of Naples Duchy of Milan Kingdom of Sicily Austrian Netherlands Dutch Republic Gran Colombia United Provinces of the Río de la Plata First Mexican Empire Protectorate of Peru Republic of Chile Equatorial Guinea Louisiana (New France) Florida Territory United States Military Government in Cuba United States Military Government of Porto Rico Naval Government of Guam First Philippine Republic United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands German New Guinea Morocco Western Sahara

The Spanish Empire,^[b] sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy^[c] or the Catholic Monarchy,^[d][4][5][6] was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976.^[7][8] In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale,^[9] controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa, various islands in Asia and Oceania, as well as territory in other parts of Europe.^[10] It was one of the most powerful empires of the early modern period, becoming known as "the empire on which the sun never sets".^[11] At its greatest extent in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Spanish Empire covered 13.7 million square kilometres (5.3 million square miles), making it one of the largest empires in history.^[3]

Beginning with the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus and continuing for over three centuries, the Spanish Empire would expand across the Caribbean Islands, half of South America, most of Central America and much of North America. In the beginning, Portugal was the only serious threat to Spanish hegemony in the New World. To end the threat of Portuguese expansion, Spain conquered Portugal and the Azores Islands from 1580 to 1582 during the War of the Portuguese Succession, resulting in the establishment of the Iberian Union, a forced union between the two crowns that lasted until 1640 when Portugal regained its independence from Spain. In 1700, Philip V became king of Spain after the death of Charles II, the last Habsburg monarch of Spain, who died without an heir.

The Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation—the first circumnavigation of the Earth—laid the foundation for Spain's Pacific empire and for Spanish control over the East Indies. The influx of gold and silver from the mines in Zacatecas and Guanajuato in Mexico and Potosí in Bolivia enriched the Spanish crown and financed military endeavors and territorial expansion. Spain was largely able to defend its territories in the Americas, with the Dutch, English, and French taking only small Caribbean islands and outposts, using them to engage in contraband trade with the Spanish populace in the Indies. Another crucial element of the empire's expansion was the financial support provided by Genoese bankers, who financed royal expeditions and military campaigns.^[12]

The Bourbon monarchy implemented reforms like the Nueva Planta decrees, which centralized power and abolished regional privileges. Economic policies promoted trade with the colonies, enhancing Spanish influence in the Americas. Socially, tensions emerged between the ruling elite and the rising bourgeoisie, as well as divisions between peninsular Spaniards and Creoles in the Americas.^[13] These factors ultimately set the stage for the independence movements that began in the early 19th century, leading to the gradual disintegration of Spanish colonial authority.^[14] By the mid-1820s, Spain had lost its territories in Mexico, Central America, and South America. By 1900, it had also lost Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, and Guam in the Mariana Islands following the Spanish–American War.^[15]

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