In the newly-independent Central American Federation (1821-1841), as in other Latin American countries, mapping projects, as well as archaeological and natural-historical research, were instrumental in the state’s project to define the emerging nation. This paper analyses these projects in relation to its colonial antecedents, chiefly the expansion of Guatemala’s connection with international knowledge networks. The indepence-era expeditions and projects were characterised by a reliance on, and a reinterpretation of, the knowledge networks that had formed the basis of colonial-era institutions such as the ‘Economic Society of the Friends of the Country’ and merchant guilds. The Central American state sought to define its boundaries and natural resources through projects such as the Atlas Guatemalteco (1832), as well as the plans drawn up by José del Valle for an international natural-historical expedition to explore Central America. In addition, a network of new roads, and the increasingly professional exploration of Maya ruins, also required engineers and prospectors to travel around the country. All of this formed notable continuities as well as contrasts with the colonial-era efforts to gather natural historical and geographical knowledge about Central America, both by the government, and by the ‘Economic Society’. This paper analyses the Central American Federation’s cartographic, archaeological and natural-historical projects with regards to the role played by foreign engineers, prospectors and travellers. Of particular interest is the attitude of Guatemalans towards the expertise of these foreigners, especially in the light of colonial-era knowledge networks drawing on foreign expertise, but also heated proto-nationalist debates on the epistemological value of Guatemalan, rather than foreign, knowledge. The current historiography tends to focus on these projects as a part of the emergence of the Guatemalan nation from the wider Central American Federation, emphasising the rupture of the independent state with the past. By contrast, this paper focuses on continuities of information networks and epistemology between the colonial and independent periods.