Republic of Gran Colombia

The Republic of Gran Colombia, or Greater Colombia, was a short-lived republic in South America and consisted of present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.

The republic was founded in 1819 at the Congress of Angostura. It was a federal republic, made up of three departments with capitals in the cities of Bogotá, Caracas, and Quito.

The only president of the country was the famous general Simón Bolívar and he ruled the country in an autocratic but just way.

Bolívar dreamt of uniting South America but was unable to achieve this during the struggle for independence. The Republic of Gran Colombia was Bolívar's attempt of creating one single South American state. Other Latin American presidents objected to his idea and Bolívar, disgruntled, resigned in 1828.

The federation was dissolved in 1830 due to internal strife between the different regions which arose after Bolívar's resignation. The dissolution of Gran Colombia characterized the failure of Bolívar's dream. Only Panama and Colombia remained united until 1903.

Another state on the American continent that underwent a similar fate was the United States of Central America.