An Audiencia of Los Confines of Guatemala and Nicaragua was created by a royal decree of November 20, 1542, which also established the Audiencia of Lima. The new audiencias divided the territory of the abolished Royal Audiencia of Panama. The governorates of Guatemala, Honduras, Chiapas and Nicaragua, which existed at the time of the decree, were abolished, but some were later restored and new ones created: Honduras in 1552, Soconusco in 1561, Nicaragua in 1565 and Costa Rica in 1574.
