According to some estimates, around 50 million Europeans emigrated to the Americas and Oceania between 1830 and 1930. Around 33 million of them went to North America, 13 million to South America and 2 million to Australia and New Zealand.
Many of the inhabitants of Canton Ticino also crossed the oceans in search of new opportunities. It has been calculated that at least 30,000 headed to the United States, particularly California, around 3,000 to Australia and 8,000 to South America, especially Argentina and Uruguay.
Meanwhile, thanks to the construction of the St Gotthard and Monte Ceneri railway tunnels, there was also immigration to Ticino in the second half of the nineteenth century. Most of the construction contracts were awarded to foreign firms and 90% of the manpower was of Italian origin.
