Upper Peru

Upper Peru is a name for the land that was governed by the Real Audiencia of Charcas. The name originated in Buenos Aires towards the end of the 18th century after the Audiencia of Charcas was transferred from the Viceroyalty of Peru to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776. It comprised the governorships of Potosí, La Paz, Cochabamba, Chiquitos, Moxos and Charcas (since renamed Sucre). Following the Bolivian War of Independence, the region became an independent country and was renamed Bolivia in honor of Simón Bolívar. History By 1821, the Spanish colonial empire in Latin America was falling apart because of the Napoleonic occupation of Spain, and the troops of generals Bolivar and Sucre, who had already liberated Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, were already approaching the Upper Peru region.