Margarita Province

Margarita Province (1525 - 1864) was one of the provinces of the Spanish Empire, then one of the provinces of Gran Colombia, and later one of the Provinces of Venezuela. In Gran Colombia it belonged to the Orinoco Department which was created in 1824. With the creation of the States of Venezuela in 1864 it became Nueva Esparta.

1840 map by Agostino Codazzi.

Divisions

The Province was named for its most important part, Isla Margarita.

Capital: Asunción.

Cantons:

• Asunción Canton
• Norte Canton (seat: Santa Ana del Norte).

Governors

A partial list of governors:

Term	Governor	Notes and sources
1595	Francisco Gutiérrez Flores	[1]
1619-1626	Andrés Rodríguez Villegas	Governor and captain-general[2]
1626-1630	Garcia Álvarez de Figueroa	[2][3]
1630-1638	Juan de Eulate	Governor from 1630 to 1638 before retiring to Spain.[4]
1638-1642	Juan Luis de Camarena	Governor from 18 February 1638 until 1642. Died in office.[5]
1643-1649	Francisco de Santillán y Argote	Governor from 13 April 1643 to 23 March 1649.[5]
	Fernando de Mendoza Mate de Luna	Followed Santillán y Argote[5]
1668-1671	Martin de Tellerfa	[6]
1671-1676	Francisco Mejía y Alarcón	Appointed governor of Margarita in January 1672.[7]
1676-1681	Juan Muñoz Gadea	Appointed governor on 25 November 1676.[8]
1681-1683	Juan Fermín de Huidobro
1683-1685	Juan Muñoz Gadea	Second term
1686-1688	Martín Cabeza de Vaca	[6]
1688-1690	Sancho de Zapata de Mendoza	[6]
1692-1699	José Leoz y Echalaz	[6]
1699-1706	Diego Suinaga y Orbea	Appointed governor in 1699[9][6]
1713-1718	Diego Antonio de Molina Miñano	Nombrado Gobernador y Capitán General 23 August 1712, tomó posesión ele 11 October 1713. Cesó en enel cargo October 1718.[10]
1718-1723	José Arias	Fue Gobernador y Capitán General del 26 Junio 1717 a 2 octubre 1723.[11]
1724-	Juan de Vera y Fajardo	Nombrado Gobernador y Capitán General el 1 June 1724[12]
1746-1750	José Longar y Cobián	[6]
1750-1756	Joaquín Moreno de Mendoza	[6]
1757-1764	Alonso de Rio y Castro	[6]
1764-1776	José de Matos y Rabel	[6]
1776-1785	Félix Francisco Bejarano	[6]
1785-1792	Miguel González Dávila	[6]
1793-1796	Juan de Dios Valdés de Yarza	[6]