The Spanish Empire was one of the first global empires, spanning Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania from the 15th to the 19th centuries. It began expanding in 1492 after the reconquista of Spain, when Christopher Columbus' voyage to the Americas launched the Spanish colonization of the New World. By the 16th century, the Spanish Empire extended across most of the Americas and into Asia, dividing its territories into the primary viceroyalties of New Spain, New Castile, and New Granada. The empire lasted over 300 years and was fueled primarily by silver mining in Peru and Mexico, though it underwent many administrative and economic changes over its long history.