Spanish East Indies exception of a short period at the end of the 18th century). In 1821 the New Spanish Viceroyalty collapsed following the Mexican War of Independence, which resulted in the First Mexican Empire. All control of the Spanish East Indies government was then transferred to Madrid, until the United States annexed most Spanish territories in the Asia-Pacific region after the Spanish–American War of 1898. In 1574 the Captaincy General of the Philippines was created as a dependency of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The Real Audiencia of Manila was created on and established in 1584 as the highest tribunal of the
Spanish East Indies architecture and fashion also have much Spanish influence. The national cuisines of these countries also have Mexican and Spanish elements. In terms of ethnicity, the inhabitants of these territories (1/3rd of Luzon island's population and port-cities and military outposts, mainly Iloilo, Cebu, Legaspi, Vigan and Zamboanga etc.) are descendants of Latin American and Spanish settlers. These descendants of mixed heritage are known as mestizos. A sizeable proportion of the current population of the Northern Marianas Islands (45–55%) and Guam (30–45%), as well as that of Palau (15–25%) is of Filipino descent. Some of the local peoples in the previously stated