Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, Florida was a component of the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the expansion of the Spanish Empire. Wide-ranging expeditions were mounted into the hinterland during the 16th century, but Spain never exercised complete control over La Florida beyond the area of what are now the U.S. states of Florida, southern Georgia, southern Alabama, southern Mississippi, and southeastern Louisiana. (Colonial Texas was in a different Captaincy General.)