Colombia Through History: Who Ruled Its Lands

The land of today's Colombia appears on 39 historical border maps from 500 BC to today. Over that time it was held, in whole or in part, by 5 different states, among them Colombia, Viceroyalty of New Granada, Viceroyalty of Peru, Viceroyalty of New Spain, Ijku (Arhuaco).

Colombia

Explore the history of Colombia in the interactive map

Compare 1000 with today · Colombia as a state on the map

Who ruled the land of Colombia, map by map

Share of sample points inside today's borders held by each state on each map. Areas with no organised state on the map are left out.

Historic cities in Colombia

• Bogotá
• Cartagena

Famous people of Colombia

Battles and historic sites

Questions

Which empires and states ruled the territory of Colombia?

On the border maps from 500 BC to today, the largest shares of the territory of modern Colombia belonged to Colombia, Viceroyalty of New Granada, Viceroyalty of Peru, Viceroyalty of New Spain, Ijku (Arhuaco).

What was Colombia part of in 1900?

On the border map for 1900, most of the territory of today's Colombia lay within Colombia.

Further reading

• History of Colombia in Encyclopaedia Britannica
• History of Colombia on Wikipedia

Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.