6°32′00″N 73°12′00″W / 6.53333°N 73.2°W / 6.53333; -73.2

Santander State was one of the states of Colombia, which existed from 1857 until 1886. Today the area of the former state makes up most of modern-day areas of the Santander Department and Norte de Santander Department in northeastern Colombia.

Limits

In 1863 it bordered:

• Antioquia State in the West.
• Boyacá State in the South.
• Bolívar State and Magdalena State in the North.

Naming

• 1857-05-13 : created as Estado Federal de Santander (Federal State of Santander).
• 1858 recognized as Estado de la Federación in the constitution of the Granadine Confederation,^[1]
• 1863 name Estado Soberano (Sovereign State of Santander) in the constitution of the United States of Colombia^[2]

Subdivisions

In 1857 the state was divided into the following departamentos:^[3]

• Barichara.
• Bucaramanga.
• Charalá.
• Fortul.
• Ocaña.
• Pamplona.
• San Gil.
• Socorro.
• Vélez.

The law of 17 April 1859 divided the state into 7 departamentos:^[3]

• Róvira Department (capital Concepción).
• Ocaña Department (capital Ocaña).
• Pamplona Department (capital Pamplona).
• Santander Department (capital San José de Cúcuta).
• Socorro Department (capital Socorro).
• Soto Department (capital Bucaramanga).

In 1860 two more departamentos were created:

• Guanentá Department (capital San Gil).
• Charalá Department (capital Charalá).