- Source: Free State of Mariquita
The Free State of Mariquita was an administrative and territorial entity of the United Provinces of New Granada. It encompassed the territory of its namesake New Granadian province as it existed in 1810.
History
Between 1807 and 1808, French forces under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain and placed Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the throne. The Spanish colonies in the Americas took advantage of the chaos of the ensuing 1808–1814 war of independence on the Iberian Peninsula to assert their own right to self-governance.