Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro

Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro
Governo-Geral do Rio de Janeiro
1572–1578
1607–1613
Coat of arms
Coat of arms
Brazil in 1572
Status Colonial State of the Portuguese Empire
Capital Rio de Janeiro
Common languages Portuguese
Religion Roman Catholicism
Government Monarchy
Monarch  
 1572–1578
Sebastian I
 1607–1613
Philip II
Governor General  
 1572–1574
Cristóvão de Barros
 1608–1613
Afonso de Albuquerque
History  
 Established
1572
 Disestablished
1613
Currency Portuguese Real
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Governorate General of Brazil
Governorate General of Brazil

The Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro (Portuguese: Governo-Geral do Rio de Janeiro) was a colonial administration of the Portuguese Empire.

History

In 1534, John III of Portugal started granting land rights to colonize Portuguese territory in South America, they were the Captaincy Colonies of Brazil. These fifteen autonomous and separate colonies were, for the most part, a failure administratively, and thus economically.

In 1549, in order to solve the governance problem of his South American colonies, John III established the Governorate General of Brazil.[1] The governorate united the fifteen colonies into a single colony, but each captaincy would continue to exist as a provincial administrative unit of the governorate.

In 1572, in order to establish a stronger and more capable military presence in the continent, the governorate was dismantled into two separate colonies, the Governorate General of Bahia, which encompassed the northern part, and the Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro, which took the south.

In 1578, the governorate was reestablished from the governorates of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. This second Governorate General of Brazil would be once again partitioned into the two separate colonies, in 1607.

Finally in 1613, the Governorate General of Rio de Janeiro and the Governorate General of Bahia merged to form the third, and final, Governorate General of Brazil.

References

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