colony · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

Nueva Vizcaya

1562 CE – 1821 CE · capital Durango

The vast northern Spanish province of New Spain, covering today's Durango and Chihuahua, built on silver mining and frontier warfare.

Origins

Francisco de Ibarra, a Basque explorer funded by his uncle, a Zacatecas mining magnate, led expeditions north from 1554 and became governor of the new province in 1562. He founded Durango in 1563 as its capital and named the province after his home region, Biscay.

Rule and society

The province's wealth came from silver mines at Santa Bárbara, Parral, from 1631, and Chihuahua. Missions of the Jesuits and Franciscans pushed into the Sierra Madre, provoking the Tepehuán revolt of 1616 and Tarahumara uprisings. Presidios guarded routes against Apache and other raiders, and the Camino Real linked it to Mexico City and Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico.

Decline and legacy

From 1776 Nueva Vizcaya belonged to the Provincias Internas, and in 1786 it became an intendancy. After independence it was divided in 1824 into the Mexican states of Durango and Chihuahua.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Nueva Vizcaya. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nueva-vizcaya
MLA
“Nueva Vizcaya.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nueva-vizcaya. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Nueva Vizcaya.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nueva-vizcaya.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Nueva Vizcaya’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nueva-vizcaya (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻