answersLogoWhite

0

The Spanish Empire reached its peak in the mid-late 16th century, before the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the British in 1588.

The Spanish Empire, at its zenith, controlled most of South America (except Portuguese held Brazil) and three colonies in the northeast of South America, held by Britain, the Netherlands and France; Mexico and Central America, much of the Caribbean, the Philippines, as well as numerous trading ports on the African continent.

Spain, though not as powerful an empire as Great Britain after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, held even more territory up until the time of the Spanish-American war (when the Philippines, Puerto Rico and other locales fell to the U.S.). Spain, however, by the late 1800s, controlled a number of colonies in Africa, as well as most of their previous holdings from the 1500s, with the exception that Mexico had gained independence in the 1820s.

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

What else can I help you with?