Spanish East Indies
Spanish colony from 1565 to 1901 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Spanish East Indies[lower-alpha 2] were the colonies of the Spanish Empire in Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1901, governed through the captaincy general in Manila for the Spanish Crown, initially reporting to Mexico City, then Madrid, then later directly reporting to Madrid after the Spanish American Wars of Independence.
It has been suggested that this article be merged into Captaincy General of the Philippines. (Discuss) Proposed since February 2024. |
Spanish East Indies | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1565–1901 | |||||||||||||||
Motto: Plus Ultra "Further Beyond" | |||||||||||||||
Anthem: Marcha Real "Royal March" | |||||||||||||||
Status | Colonies of the Spanish Empire
| ||||||||||||||
Official languages | Spanish | ||||||||||||||
Common languages | Philippine languages Micronesian languages East Formosan languages Hokkien[lower-alpha 1] | ||||||||||||||
Religion | Catholicism (state religion), Islam, Philippine traditional religion, Micronesian traditional religion, Taiwanese aboriginal traditional religion, Overseas Chinese folk religion | ||||||||||||||
Monarch | |||||||||||||||
• 1565–1598 (first) | Philip II | ||||||||||||||
• 1886–1898 (last) | Alfonso XIII | ||||||||||||||
Legislature | Cortes Generales | ||||||||||||||
Historical era | Spanish Empire | ||||||||||||||
27 April 1565 | |||||||||||||||
26 August 1642 | |||||||||||||||
12 June 1898 | |||||||||||||||
10 December 1898[1] | |||||||||||||||
12 February 1899 | |||||||||||||||
23 March 1901 | |||||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||||
1877[2] | 345,155 km2 (133,265 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Population | |||||||||||||||
• 1877[3] | 5,567,685 | ||||||||||||||
Currency | Spanish dollar, Spanish peseta | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Today part of |
The king of Spain traditionally styled himself "King of the East and West Indies" (Spanish: Rey de las Indias Orientales y Occidentales).
From 1565 to 1821 these territories, together with the Spanish West Indies, were administered through the Viceroyalty of New Spain based in Mexico City. After independence of the Mexican Empire, Manila reported directly to Madrid. The territories ruled included present-day Philippines, Guam and the Mariana Islands, as well as Palau, part of Micronesia and for a brief period Northern Taiwan and parts of North Sulawesi and the Moluccas (Dutch East Indies (VOC)). Cebu was the first seat of government, which later transferred to Manila.
As a result of the Spanish–American War in 1898, the United States occupied the Philippines and Guam, while Spain sold other smaller islands to Germany in the German–Spanish Treaty of 1899. The few remaining islands were ceded to the United States when the Treaty of Washington was ratified in 1901.