Santander State was one of the states of Colombia

States of Colombia

States of Colombia existed from February 27, 1855 in the Republic of New Granada and the Granadine Confederation, were they were called "federal states"...

. Today the area of the former state makes up most of modern day areas of the Santander Department

Santander Department

Santander is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, east of the Magdalena River, bordered to the south and southeast by Boyacá, to the northeast by Norte...

 and Norte de Santander Department in northeastern Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

.

Limits

In 1863 it bordered:

• Antioquia State
  Antioquia State
  Antioquia State was one of the states of Colombia. Today the area of the former state makes up most of modern day Antioquia Department, Colombia.- Limits :In 1863 it bordered:* Santander State and Boyacá State in the East.* Tolima State in the South....
  
   in the West.
• Boyacá State
  Boyacá State
  Boyacá State was one of the states of Colombia.- Naming :* 1857-06-15 create under the name Estado Federal de Boyacá .* 1858 recognized as Estado de la Federación in the 1858 constitution of the Granadine Confederation,...
  
   in the South.
• Bolívar State
  Bolívar State (Colombia)
  Bolívar State was one of the states of Colombia. Today the area of the former state makes up most of modern day Bolívar Department, Sucre Department, Córdoba Department and Atlántico Department in northern Colombia.- Limits :In 1863 it bordered:...
  
   and Magdalena State
  Magdalena State
  The Magdalena State was one of the states of Colombia. Today the area of the former state makes up most of modern-day areas of the departments of Magdalena, Cesar and La Guajira, northern Colombia.- Provinces :* El Banco Province...
  
   in the North.

Naming

• 1857-05-13 created as Estado Federal de Santander (Federal State of Santander).
• 1858 recognized as Estado de la Federación in the constitution of the Granadine Confederation
  Granadine Confederation
  The Granadine Confederation was a short-lived federal republic established in 1858 as a result of a constitutional change replacing the Republic of New Granada. It comprised the present day nations of Colombia and Panama...
  
  ,
• 1863 name Estado Soberano (Sovereign State of Santander) in the constitution of the United States of Colombia
  United States of Colombia
  The United States of Colombia was the name adopted in 1861 through the Rionegro Constitution for the nation which had been known as the Republic of New Granada since the dissolution of the federation of Gran Colombia in 1830-1831....
  
  

Subdivisions

In 1857 the state was divided into the following departamentos:

• Barichara.
• Bucaramanga.
• Charalá.
• Fortul.
• Ocaña.
• Pamplona.
• San Gil.
• Socorro.
• Vélez.

The law of 17 april 1859 divided the state into 7 departamentos:

• Róvira Department (capital Concepción).
• Ocaña Department (capital Ocaña).
• Pamplona Department (capital Pamplona).
• Santander Department
  Santander Department
  Santander is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, east of the Magdalena River, bordered to the south and southeast by Boyacá, to the northeast by Norte...
  
   (capital San José de Cúcuta).
• Socorro Department (capital Socorro).
• Soto Department (capital Bucaramanga
  Bucaramanga
  Bucaramanga is a Colombian city, and capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth largest population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area...
  
  ).

In 1860 two more departamentos were created:

• Guanentá Department (capital San Gil).
• Charalá Department (capital Charalá).