Gran Colombia, 1819–1831

Hybrid Regime · Republic · South America · Industrial Age era

Bolívar’s Gran Colombia, the short-lived union of newly independent northern South America, dissolving into separate republics amid regional rivalry.

Gran Colombia, forged by Simón Bolívar from the liberation of Spanish northern South America, united present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama under a republican constitution. Vast distances, regional elites and disputes between centralists and federalists undermined the union. It dissolved around 1830–31 into separate republics as Bolívar’s authority waned.

Open Gran Colombia 1819–1831 in the interactive 3D atlas →

Dominant patterns

  • Institutional Decay
  • Revolutionary Risk
  • Militarization
  • External Expansion
  • Imperial Decline

Political-science factor profile

Each factor 0–100; higher = stronger authoritarian / crisis pole (except institutional stability, where higher = stronger institutions).

Centralization of Power38
Media Control35
Repression42
Nationalism58
Militarization68
Economic Stress60
External Conflict60
Cult of Personality55
Elite Fragmentation80
Institutions30
Social Polarization60
Corruption & Patrimonialism52
Ideological Mobilization52
External Sovereignty85

Economy & society

GDP per capita$900 (intl-$)
Population3.0M people
Share of world population0.27%
Territory~2.5M km²
Capital population~40k

Closest historical twins

The country-eras whose structural profile most resembles Gran Colombia 1819–1831, by similarity score (0–100).

  1. Mexico, 1821–1848 – similarity 95/100 · shared: Institutional Decay, Revolutionary Risk, Militarization, External Expansion, Imperial Decline
  2. Visigothic Kingdom, 600–711 CE – similarity 87/100 · shared: Institutional Decay, Revolutionary Risk, External Expansion, Imperial Decline
  3. Mexico, 1910–1920 – similarity 84/100 · shared: Institutional Decay, Revolutionary Risk, Militarization, External Expansion
  4. Roman Republic, 80–44 BCE – similarity 83/100 · shared: Institutional Decay, Revolutionary Risk, Militarization, External Expansion, Imperial Decline
  5. Eastern Jin, 317–420 CE – similarity 83/100 · shared: Institutional Decay, Revolutionary Risk, External Expansion, Imperial Decline
  6. Gaul, 100–52 BCE – similarity 81/100 · shared: Institutional Decay, Militarization, External Expansion, Imperial Decline
  7. China, 1911–1916 – similarity 80/100 · shared: Institutional Decay, Revolutionary Risk, Militarization, Imperial Decline
  8. Western Zhou, 850–771 BCE – similarity 79/100 · shared: Institutional Decay, Revolutionary Risk, External Expansion, Imperial Decline

What followed

  • Independence and republican constitutions.
  • Dissolution into Venezuela, New Granada and Ecuador.