VICEROYALTY OF NEW SPAIN (1535–1821)
Established in 1535 by King Charles I of Spain following the fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521, this vast administrative unit was governed from its capital, Mexico City. Spanning territories from North and Central America to the Philippines, the viceroyalty was ruled under a rigid racial hierarchy known as the caste system. With an economy driven by silver mining and global trade through Manila, it remained the wealthiest and most strategic center of the Spanish Empire until it collapsed in 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence.