Venezuela Colombia and the Guiana

North-west South America remains a comparatively under-developed part of the Spanish empire. The steep mountain scenery makes transport and communications difficult, and in many places hostile Indians make Spanish rule more theoretical than real. Many settlements in the interior are extremely isolated. Where Spanish rule has been established, large landed estates are to be found, using Indian and mestizo labour. The coastal plains of both the Pacific and Caribbean seaboards are unhealthy and underpopulated, and on the Venezuelan coast, a focus for smugglers and pirates. Missions dot the region.

The north-eastern coasts on South America have been almost completely neglected by the Spanish. Here, French and Dutch settlers have gained a foothold.