File talk:Iberian Union Empires.png

Disputed

This map claims to show the Spanish Empire "in the period of"..."1581-1640". However, it shows far too much of North America as part of the Spanish Empire, even for the latter date of 1640. Specifically, it includes as part of the empire all of Baja California, Alta California (north beyond San Francisco Bay and east into and beyond the Sierra Nevadas), an enormous New Mexico (far larger than anything Spanish controlled in 1640), most of Texas, and the entire coast of the Gulf of Mexico including Louisiana and all of Florida. None of this was Spanish controlled in 1640, excepting Florida and a fairly small area in New Mexico. I'm not sure about Sonora being part of the empire in 1640. The coast of the Gulf of Mexico between the Apalachicola River in Florida and somewhere north of Veracruz, but well south of the Rio Grande, was definitely not controlled by Spanish in 1640. I'm less sure about how the Spanish Empire is depicted in South America, but at least it looks like the map shows too much land south of Buenos Aires as Spanish. The exact match of the empire with the modern border of Brazil seems unlikely for 1640. Pfly (talk) 19:40, 31 July 2011 (UTC)