Islam was a widespread religion on the Iberian Peninsula, beginning with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania and ending (at least overtly) with its prohibition by the modern Spanish state in the mid-16th century and the expulsion of the Moriscos in the early 17th century, an ethnic and religious minority of around 500,000 people. Although a significant proportion of Moriscos returned to Spain or avoided expulsion through forced conversion to Christianity, the practice of Islam had faded into obscurity by the 19th century.