Nuevo Santander

New Santander
Nuevo Santander (Spanish)
1746–1821
Flag of New Santander
Cross of Burgundy,
flag of New Spain.
StatusSpanish colony
CapitalSantander Jiménez
Common languagesSpanish
Religion
Roman Catholicism
GovernmentMonarchy
King of Spain 
• July 9, 1746 – August 10, 1759
Ferdinand VI
• December 11, 1813 – September 29, 1833
Ferdinand VII
Royal Governor 
• May 31, 1748 - April 8, 1767
José de Escandón
• July 7, 1821 - September 22, 1822
Felipe de la Garza Cisneros
Historical eraColonial era
• Established
1746
• Disestablished
1821
Population
• 1790
43,739
CurrencySpanish colonial real
Succeeded by
First Mexican Empire
Today part ofMexico (Nuevo León & Tamaulipas)
United States (Texas)
Map of New Spain along the Gulf of Mexico

Nuevo Santander (New Santander) was a region of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, covering the modern Mexican state of Tamaulipas and extending into modern-day southern Texas in the United States.[1]

Nuevo Santander was named after Santander, Cantabria, Spain, and settled by Spanish American colonists in a concerted settlement campaign peaking in 1748–1750. It fell under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Guadalajara in judicial matters, and in 1776, Nuevo Santander became part of the semi-autonomous Provincias Internas.

José de Escandón founded the colony in 1747. In 1755, Jiménez was founded, which became the major town and capital of the colony. The state was subsequently renamed to Tamaulipas once Mexico gained its independence in 1821.[2]

  1. ^ T. R. Fehrenbach (1 April 2014). Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans. Open Road Media. pp. 107–108. Retrieved 26 October 2023. The borders of New Santander did not stop at the Rio Bravo [the Mexican name for the Rio Grande]; they went north to the Nueces, near Corpus Christi, then west and north to the Medina, then south again on a line along Laredo to the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madres, deep in Mexico.
  2. ^ "TSHA | Nuevo Santander". www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2022-05-28.