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| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 3,274[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Florida,West Virginia,Pennsylvania,Texas,New Mexico,California,Puerto Rico | |
| Languages | |
| American English,Asturian,Spanish,Eonavian | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Asturian people and other groups of the Asturian diaspora, Spanish people |
Asturian Americans (Asturian:Asturianu-estauxunidenses,Spanish:Asturiano-estadounidenses) arecitizens of theUnited States who are ofAsturian ancestry.
The first Asturian immigrants came toNorth America as soldiers, officers and settlers with theSpanish Army in the wake of Spain's conquest of what is todayFlorida,Mexico and thesouthwestern US. Some came directly to areas that would eventually become American territory, while others came to the present-day US via Mexico orCuba.Saint Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied European-founded city anywhere in the continental United States, was founded by the AsturianPedro Menéndez de Avilés. His expedition consisted of 2,000 settlers; at least forty of them were Asturians, mostly soldiers and from various areas of Asturias (mainly fromAvilés,Ribadesella andVillaviciosa).[2]
The first known child of European descent to be born in what is now the continental US wasMartín de Argüelles (Asturian:Martín d'Argüelles), born in 1566 in Saint Augustine to Asturian parents. Several of the first colonial governors of Florida were Asturians, including Menéndez de Avilés,Hernando de Miranda,Rodrigo del Junco,Pedro Menéndez Márquez,Juan Menéndez Márquez andJuan Treviño de Guillamas.
In the early decades of the 20th century, thousands of Asturians left Spain and Cuba and came to work, either in thezinc andcoal mines ofWest Virginia andPennsylvania, or in the thrivingtobacco industry ofTampa, Florida. These Asturian immigrants organized themselves in tight-knit communities, setting up clubs and welfare organizations to provide and care for its members.
One such club is theCentro Asturiano de Tampa, a historic site inYbor City, Tampa, Florida. It is located at 1913 Nebraska Avenue. Established in 1902, it was added to theNational Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1974. It was designed by Tampa architectM. Leo Elliott.
On Asturian immigration, the "Asturian-American Migration Forum" states:
Asturias, a northern Spanish region on the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay), has been a center of mining andmetallurgy for thousands of years. Between 1900 and 1924, thousands of Spaniards emigrated from Asturias to the United States. Many of those immigrating were skilled workers who followed the zinc, coal, and other heavy industry to the New World. Others were led by family ties, a desire to avoid military service, or the promise of adventure.
These Asturian immigrants established an informal but lively network which connected Spain, Cuba, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, California, and other locations within the US.
The2010 US Census failed to include an Asturian category, leaving Asturian-Americans with the only choice of checking theHispanic category, unlikeBasques orScotch-Irish Americans, who, even though they do not come from independent countries, are recognized by the US Census with their own categories.
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