Captaincy General of the Philippines
The Captaincy General of the Philippines was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire in Southeast Asia governed by a governor-general as a dependency of the Viceroyalty of New Spain based in Mexico City until Mexican independence when it was transferred directly to Madrid.
Captaincy General of the Philippines
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| 1565–1898 | |||||||||
| Motto: Plus Ultra "Further Beyond" | |||||||||
| Anthem: Marcha Real (1565–1873, 1874–1899) "Royal March"
Himno de Riego (1873–1874) "Anthem of Riego" | |||||||||
| Lesser coat of arms: | |||||||||
| Status | Captaincy General of the Spanish Empire | ||||||||
| Capital |
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| Official languages | Spanish | ||||||||
| Common languages | Philippine languages • Micronesian languages | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism (state religion), Islam, Philippine traditional religion | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• 1565–1598 (first) | Philip II | ||||||||
• 1886–1898 (last) | Alfonso XIII | ||||||||
| Governor-General | |||||||||
• 1565–1572 (first) | Miguel López de Legazpi | ||||||||
• 1898 (last) | Diego de los Ríos | ||||||||
| Legislature | Cortes Generales | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Spanish conquest | 27 April 1565 | ||||||||
| 15 March 1646 | |||||||||
| 24 September 1762 | |||||||||
| 20 January 1872 | |||||||||
• Philippine Revolution | 19 August 1896 | ||||||||
• Declaration of Independence | 12 June 1898 | ||||||||
• United States annexation of the Philippines and Guam | 10 December 1898 | ||||||||
| Currency | Spanish dollar, Spanish peseta | ||||||||
| Time zone | 16 to 12 hours behind GMT (27 April 1565–30 December 1844) 8 to 12 hours ahead of GMT (1 January 1845 onwards) | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | PH | ||||||||
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The Captaincy General formed part the Spanish East Indies, which included among others the Philippine Islands, the Mariana Islands, and the Caroline Islands. It was founded in 1565 with the first permanent Spanish forts.
For centuries, all the administrative, political and economic aspects of the Captaincy General were administered in Mexico City by the Viceroyalty of New Spain for the Spanish Crown. However, in 1821, following the independence of the Mexican Empire, all control was transferred to Madrid. It was succeeded by the short-lived First Philippine Republic following its independence through the Philippine Revolution.