Captaincy General of the Philippines

Captaincy General of the Philippines
*Capitanía General de Filipinas* (Spanish)
*Kapitaniya Heneral ng Pilipinas* (Tagalog)
Captaincy General of the Philippines Capitanía General de Filipinas (Spanish); Kapitaniya Heneral ng Pilipinas (Tagalog);
1565–1899
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto: Plus Ultra; "Further Beyond"
	Anthem: Marcha Real (1770–1899) ; "Royal March";
	Lesser coat of arms:;
Status	Captaincy General of the Spanish Empire Territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (1565–1821);
Capital	Cebu City (1565–1569); Manila (1571–1898); Iloilo City (1898);
Official languages	Spanish
Common languages	Philippine languages; Micronesian languages; Hokkien; Other immigrant languages
Religion	Catholicism (state religion); Islam; Philippine Traditional Religion
Government	Monarchy
King
• 1565–1598 (first)	Philip II
• 1886–1899 (last)	Alfonso XIII
Governor-General
• 1565–1572 (first)	Miguel López de Legazpi
• 1899 (last)	Diego de los Ríos
Legislature	Cortes Generales
History
• Spanish conquest	27 April 1565
• Dutch invasion	15 March 1646
• British invasion	24 September 1762
• Cavite Mutiny	20 January 1872
• Philippine Revolution	23 August 1896
• Declaration of Independence	12 June 1898
• Battle of Manila	13 August 1898
• United States annexation of the Philippines and Guam	10 December 1898
• Philippine–American War brokes out	4 February 1899
• Withdrawal of Spanish forces	3 June 1899
Population
• 1896 estimate	6,261,339
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
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Precolonial barangays
Military Government of the Philippine Islands
Dictatorial Government of the Philippines
Today part of	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.

Also known as the Captaincy General of 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.