Spain-North+America

=__**Spain-Mexico**__ __**(North America)**__ //By//: //Steven//=

"The **Spanish Empire** ([|Spanish]: //Imperio Español//) consisted of the territories and colonies administered directly by [|Spain] in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia or Oceania. At the peak of its power, it was one of the largest empires in world history. It originated during the [|Age of Exploration] and was therefore one of the first [|global empires]. It lasted from the 15th century through—in the case of its African holdings—the latter portion of the 20th century. Spain had emerged in the latter 1480s with a personally unified monarchy, by the marriage of the [|Catholic Monarchs] or //los Reyes Catolicos//: the Queen of [|Castile] and the King of [|Aragon]. Rule was separate but internal and foreign policy was coordinated. In 1492 they completed the //[|Reconquista]// of the Iberian peninsula following the [|Battle of Granada] against [|Islamic] [|Moors]. The incorporation of [|Granada] to the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon achieved the unification of Spain. That same year [|Christopher Columbus] commanded the first [|Spanish exploratory voyage] west across the [|Atlantic Ocean], leading to the [|discovery of America] and Europe's eventual colonial engagement in the [|New World]. The [|Western Hemisphere] thereby became the focus of [|Spanish exploration and colonization]."

Information courtesy of wikipedia