Mexico(independence year: 1821)Won independence from Spain in 1821. The war began in 1810.
Haiti(independence year: 1804)Won independence from France in 1804, the earliest on this map.
Guatemala(independence year: 1821)Declared independence from Spain in 1821, with its four neighbors.
Honduras(independence year: 1821)Declared independence from Spain in 1821. In the Central American federation from 1823.
Nicaragua(independence year: 1821)Declared independence from Spain in 1821. In the Central American federation from 1823.
El Salvador(independence year: 1821)Declared independence from Spain in 1821, with the other Central American provinces.
Costa Rica(independence year: 1821)Declared independence from Spain in 1821, the southernmost of the five.
South America 7
Brazil(independence year: 1822)Declared independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822.
Argentina(independence year: 1816)Declared independence from Spain on July 9, 1816.
Chile(independence year: 1818)Declared and won independence from Spain in 1818.
Colombia(independence year: 1819)Won independence from Spain in 1819. Its federation then held Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.
Peru(independence year: 1821)Declared independence from Spain in July 1821.
Bolivia(independence year: 1825)Declared independence from Spain on August 6, 1825.
Paraguay(independence year: 1811)Declared independence from Spain in May 1811.
How this list was compiled: A country is asked only where two sources give the same year; each detail line says whether the year is a declaration or a victory. Years: United States Department of State, Office of the Historian, A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, https://history.state.gov/countries, read 2026-10-03, and the article on each country at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ followed by its name, read 2026-10-03. For Mexico, Chile and Brazil the second source is the Library of Congress country study of each (text at http://countrystudies.us/mexico/13.htm, http://countrystudies.us/chile/8.htm and http://countrystudies.us/brazil/11.htm, read 2026-10-03). For Nicaragua and Costa Rica the guide's own pages give no 1821: the year is on its El Salvador page (in 1821 El Salvador and the other Central American provinces declared their independence from Spain) and in the Library of Congress studies of El Salvador and Nicaragua (text at http://countrystudies.us/el-salvador/5.htm and http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/7.htm, read 2026-10-03); the guide's Costa Rica page dates that country's own formal declaration, after the federation broke up, to 1848. Venezuela, Ecuador and Uruguay are drawn and not asked, because these sources give more than one year for each. Positions in the hints were read off the drawing. Names, rings and accepted spellings are Natural Earth's. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_50m_admin_0_countries_lakes (scale 1:50,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_50m_admin_0_countries_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection centered on 12°N 85°W. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. 7 places are too small to draw at this scale and shown as a dot. Licence: public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
How it works
This Latin American revolutions map activity prints on one page: 14 numbered countries on today's borders, from Mexico to Chile, with a line for each. Students write the country and the year it declared or won independence. The answer key prints separately.
Read the full guide
Word bank for the 14 countries
In alphabetical order, to copy onto the board: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru. Numbers 1 to 7 are Mexico, Haiti and Central America; 8 to 14 are in South America.
Color the finished map by decade
Three colors are enough. Haiti, in 1804, stands alone. Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Colombia fall in the 1810s. The other nine fall in the 1820s.
Venezuela, Ecuador and Uruguay have no number: this page's sources give more than one year for each.
Questions and answers
Is there an answer key for the Latin American revolutions map?
Yes. Print the answer key gives the numbered map with a list under it: each number, its country and its year, as in Mexico · 1821.
Which countries won independence from Spain, France and Portugal?
Of the 14 on this map, Haiti broke from France and Brazil from Portugal. The other twelve broke from Spain. Students can add F, P or S after each year to put that on the sheet.
Where was Gran Colombia on the map?
It held today's Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama. The sheet draws today's borders, so students can outline those four countries together to show it.
Is Mexico's independence year 1810 or 1821?
The key counts 1821, when the war that began in 1810 was won. Chile is 1818 on the key, though its national day marks September 18, 1810. Say which year the class should write.