Colonia del Sacramento in the context of Textiles

The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata or Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires (Spanish: Virreinato del Río de la Plata or Virreinato de Buenos Aires or Spanish: Virreinato de las Provincias del Río de la Plata) meaning "River of the Silver", also called the "Viceroyalty of River Plate" in some scholarly writings, in southern South America, was the last to be organized and also the shortest-lived viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. The name "Provincias del Río de la Plata" was formally adopted in 1810 during the Cortes of Cádiz to designate the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 from several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata Basin, roughly the present-day territories of Argentina, northern Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, extending inland from the Atlantic Coast. The colony of Spanish Guinea (present-day Equatorial Guinea) also depended administratively on the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata. Buenos Aires, located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata estuary flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, opposite the Portuguese outpost of Colonia del Sacramento, was chosen as the capital. Usually considered one of the late Bourbon Reforms, the organization of this viceroyalty was motivated on both commercial grounds (Buenos Aires was by then a major spot for illegal trade), as well as on security concerns brought about by the growing interest of competing foreign powers in the area. The Spanish Crown wanted to protect its territory against Great Britain and the Kingdom of Portugal.

Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is part of the Southern Cone region of South America. Uruguay covers an area of approximately 176,215 square kilometers (68,037 sq mi). It has a population of almost 3.5 million people, of whom nearly 2 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo.

The area that became Uruguay was first inhabited by groups of hunter gatherers 13,000 years ago. The first European explorer to reach the region was Juan Díaz de Solís in 1516, but the area was colonized later than its neighbors. At the time of European arrival, the Charrúa were the predominant tribe, alongside other groups such as the Guaraní and the Chaná. However, none of these groups were socially or politically organized, which contributed to their decline. Amid territorial disputes, the Portuguese established Colônia do Sacramento in 1680, and the Spanish founded Montevideo as a military stronghold. Uruguay secured its independence between 1811 and 1828, following a four-way struggle involving Portugal, Spain, and later the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and the Empire of Brazil. In 1830, the country enacted its constitution and was formally established as an independent state.

Colonia (Spanish pronunciation: [koˈlonja] ) is a department of southwestern Uruguay. Its capital is Colonia del Sacramento, the country's second-oldest city.