Province of Tierra Firme

During Spain's New World Empire, its mainland coastal possessions surrounding the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico were referred to collectively as the Spanish Main. The southern portion of these coastal possessions – the northern portion of South America, the Pacific Coast of Colombia and Mexico, and Central America – were known as the Province of Tierra Firme (Spanish: Provincia de Tierra Firme), or the "Mainland Province" (as contrasted with Spain's nearby insular colonies). The Province of Tierra Firme, or simply Tierra Firme, was also called Costa Firme.

History

In 1498, Cristopher Columbus entered the Gulf of Paria in Venezuela and explored the Orinoco River. In his fourth and last voyage, he also explored the Honduras. In 1509, authority was granted to Alonso de Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa to colonize the territories between the west side of the Gulf of Urabá and Cabo de la Vela, and Urabá westward to Cabo Gracias a Dios in present-day Honduras. The westernmost portion was given the name Tierra Firme comprising many formerly Indigenous territories, including the former Kingdom of Parita. Other provinces of this region during this era were Nueva Andalucia and Veragua or Castilla del Oro; the main city in Tierra Firme was Santa Maria La Antigua del Darién, now Darién, Panama, near the mouth of the Tarena river.

The idea was to create a unitary administrative organization similar to Nueva España (now Mexico), near the Captaincy General of Guatemala.

Tierra Firme later received control over other territories: the Isla de Santiago (now Jamaica) the Cayman Islands; Roncador, Quitasueño, and Providencia and other islands now under Colombian control; and the territories of present-day Costa Rica and Nicaragua as far as Cabo Gracias a Dios.