Florida was part of the General Captaincy of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain and the Spanish Empire, during the Spanish colonization of America. Although it did not have clearly defined borders, the territory was much larger than the current US state of Florida, extending over much of the Southeast of the United States.
Spanish Florida was established in 1513 when Juan Ponce de León claimed the Florida peninsula for Spain during the first official European expedition to North America. It lasted until 1821, when Spain ceded the territory to the United States.
