| Conventional Long Name: | Free State of Mariquita |
| Common Name: | Mariquita |
| Era: | Colombian War of Independence |
| Year Start: | 1814 |
| Year End: | 1816 |
| Event Start: | Declaration of independence |
| Date Start: | December 22 |
| Event1: | Constitution enacted |
| Date Event1: | March 3, 1815 |
| Event End: | Spanish Reconquest |
| Date End: | July 12 |
| P1: | Mariquita Province |
| Flag P1: | Flag of Spain (1785-1873 and 1875-1931).svg |
| S1: | Mariquita Province |
| Flag S1: | Flag of Spain (1785-1873 and 1875-1931).svg |
| Coat Alt: | Coat of arms of Tolima |
| Image Map Caption: | The Free State of Mariquita in 1814 |
| Capital: | Mariquita |
| Common Languages: | Spanish |
| Demonym: | Mariquiteñ(o/a), Neogranadin(o/a) |
| Religion: | Roman Catholicism |
| Today: | Colombia |
The Free State of Mariquita was an administrative and territorial entity of the United Provinces of New Granada. It encompassed the territory of its namesake New Granadian province as it existed in 1810.[1]
Between 1807 and 1808, French forces under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain and placed Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the throne. The Spanish colonies in the Americas took advantage of the chaos of the ensuing 1808–1814 war of independence on the Iberian Peninsula to assert their own right to self-governance.[2]