In 1508, the Spanish Crown decided to colonize the mainland, the chosen area extending from Cabo Gracias a Dios in western Central America (in the present boundary between Nicaragua and Honduras) to Cabo de la Vela, Venezuela in the east. The provinces on the mainland were Nueva Andalucía, between the Atrato River in the Gulf of Uraba and the Cabo de la Vela in Venezuela and Castilla del Oro (or Veragua), which stretched from the Atrato River to Cabo Gracias a Dios in Central America.