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The word "Colombia" comes from the name of Christopher Columbus and was conceived by the revolutionary Francisco de Miranda as a reference to the New World, especially to all American territories and colonies under Spanish and Portuguese rule.

The words "Gran" or "Greater" that precede the name were not used by contemporaries, however, and were added by later historians in order to distinguish it from the present-day Republic of Colombia.

Liberator of South America Simón Bolívar and other revolutionaries in the First Republic of Venezuela used this name for all Spanish America, until the republic under that name was founded in 1819 at the Congress of Angostura. It was conceived initially at that Congress as a federal republic, made up of three departments with capitals in the cities of Bogotá (Department of Cundinamarca), CaracasCaracas is the capital of Venezuela. It is located in the north of the country, close to the Caribbean Sea. As of 2004 the population of the city was 1. 7 million and of the metropolitan area 3. The city was founded in 1567 as Santiago de Leon de Caracas (Department of Venezuela), and QuitoQuito is the capital city of Ecuador. Located in a valley on the western slopes of Pichincha, an active volcano in the Andes mountains, its elevation of around 2850 meters (9300 feet) above sea level makes it one of the world's highest capital cities. (Department of Quito). In that year, not all provinces of the former viceroyalty were yet free.

The Constitution of the new republic was given in 1821 at the Congress of Cucuta, establishing its capital in Bogotá. A new territorial division (various departments covering Venezuela, New Granada, and Quito) was conceived. Bolívar was elected president and Francisco de Paula SantanderFrancisco de Paula Santander ( 1792- 1840), was a Colombian Revolutionist. He was given control of the rebels by Simon Bolivar. Bolivar was congratulated for his victory at the Battle of Boyaca but it was actually Santander who played the larger part in t vicepresident.

In the first years of existence, Gran Colombia helped other provinces still at war with Spain to become independent, so Panama came to the federation in 1821 and so did the remaining provinces of Quito and to Venezuela. The independence of Peru was consolidated through Gran Colombia's aid. Bolívar and Santander were reelected in 1826Events February 11 University College London is founded, under the name University of London''. April 1 Samuel Morey patents the internal combustion engine. June 14- 15 The Auspicious Incident: Mahmud II, sultan of Ottoman Empire, crushes the last mutiny.

Permanent changes of the political division during the existence of Gran Colombia, with local confrontations between the regions, showed the instability of the state.

Bolívar dreamt of uniting South America but was unable to achieve this during the struggle for independence. The Republic of Gran Colombia was his initial attempt at creating a single South American state. Other South American polititians, however, objected to his idea and Bolívar, disgruntled, resigned in 1828Events January 4 The Vicomte de Martignac succeeds the Comte de Villele as Prime Minister of France. January 22 The Duke of Wellington succeeds Lord Goderich as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He repeals the Test Act, emancipating all Catholics, and.

The federation was dissolved in 1830, despite the efforts of General Rafael Urdaneta in Bogotá, due to internal strife between the different regions which strengthened after Bolívar's resignation.

The dissolution of Gran Colombia characterized the failure of Bolívar's dream.

In 1863Events January-March January 1 Abraham Lincoln delivers the Emancipation Proclamation during the second year of the American Civil War. January 1 The first claim under the Homestead Act is made for a farm in Nebraska January 8 Ground is broken in Sacramen, one of the new countries which remained after the dissolution, New Granada, changed its name officially to "United States of Colombia", and in 18861886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) Events January 18 Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. January 29 Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile. March adopted its present day name: "Republic of Colombia". Panama remained as a province of this country until 1903, when – with assistance from the USA – it became independent.

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