In 1502, on his last voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus explored a part of the Caribbean coast of the empire of the Chibcha people, now the northern coast of Colombia. He was followed by a number of Spanish conquistadores, who conquered the Chibcha and established the first permanent settlement of Europeans on the American mainland, on the site of Darin in 1510, and the settlements of Santa Marta in 1525 and Santa Fe de Bogot in 1538. In 1549 the former Chibcha Empire was included in the Audiencia of New Granada. Between 1717 and 1739 the Audiencia of New Granada and the territories that later became Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panama were included in the Viceroyalty of New Granada. Lack of economic progress and social and political discrimination against native-born New Granadans caused intense hostility to Spanish rule. Inspired by the successful American and French revolutions of the late 18th century, the people of New Granada joined the revolutionary movement for independence that swept over Spain's western empire in the early 19th century.BIndependence from Spain In the wars that followed, the South American leader Simn Bolvar was the outstanding revolutionary and military figure. His decisive victory over the Spanish royalists at the Battle of Boyac on August 7, 1819, resulted in the liberation of the former Audiencia of New Granada. The Congress of Angostura, which followed on December 17, 1819, proclaimed the formation of the State of Great Colombia, to comprise the former Audiencia of New Granada, present-day Panama, and, on their liberation, Venezuela and Ecuador. Following the liberation of Venezuela in 1821, the Congress of Ccuta, on August 30, 1821, adopted a constitution for Great Colombia, providing for a republican form of government, and elected Bolvar as its first president. The new republic was short-lived; in 1831 New Granada (including Panama) became a separate state.The history of the country since then is ...
