Territorial evolution of the Caribbean the Viceroyalty of New Granada and the Captaincy General of Venezuela became the Republic of Gran Colombia organized as a federation of Ecuador, today's Colombia and Venezuela (Panama was part of Colombia). The official name of the country at the time was the Republic of Colombia. Historians adopted the term "Gran Colombia" to distinguish this republic from the present-day Republic of Colombia, which began using the same name in 1863. Spanish Haiti's independence was short-lived, as Haitian forces, led by Jean Pierre Boyer, invaded and took control of the country just nine weeks later in February 1822. After a brief
French rule in the Ionian Islands which created the Septinsular Republic, under joint Russian and Ottoman protection. The new state proved politically unstable, but retained its precarious autonomy. The islands remained "de facto" under Russian influence and military protection, becoming thus involved in the Russian conflicts with France and Ali Pasha. The Septinsular Republic survived until 1807, when the Treaty of Tilsit once again surrendered the islands to France. While the Republic was abolished, its constitution and forms of governance were retained during this second period of French rule. The renewed French presence in the area aroused the opposition of the British, who instigated a naval