Spanish East Indies together with the Spanish West Indies, were administered through the Viceroyalty of New Spain based in Mexico City. After Mexican independence, they were ruled directly from Madrid. As a result of the Spanish–American War in 1898, the Philippines and Guam were occupied by the United States while about 6,000 of the remaining smaller islands were sold to Germany in the German–Spanish Treaty of 1899. The few remaining islands were ceded to the United States when the Treaty of Washington was ratified in 1901. Spanish contact began on , when a Spanish expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan reached the Mariana Islands.
1917 Dutch East Indies Volksraad election for the native population (ten elected, five appointed) and three for the Chinese population (all of which were appointed). The subsequent membership of the Volksraad included: 1917 Dutch East Indies Volksraad election Elections to the Volksraad were held in the Dutch East Indies on 16 October 1917. The result was a victory for the Dutch Indies Freethinkers Association, who defeated the Protestant Christian Ethical Party and the Catholic Indian Catholic Party. The Volksraad was created by a law passed on 16 December 1916 in order to further the possibility of self-government. It had a total of 38 members, half of