However, until the second half of the 20th century, most of the North African people who emigrated to the United States came, actually, from the Canary Islands, that politically belong to Spain. They came to some the Spanish colonies of South from United States with the objective to found and repopulate regions for Spain. In 1539, Hernando de Soto recruited some expeditionaries in this archipelago to explore La Florida, and in 1569 embarked another group of Canarian farmers (known in the Americas as Isleños) with this destination.