Newfoundland was one of the earliest British-settled areas of the New World, with continuous settlement from the beginning of the 17th century. Until the 20th century, settlers in Newfoundland were drawn almost exclusively from two principal geographical sources, the southwest counties of England and the southeast counties of Ireland. From a linguistic perspective, geographical, socioeconomic and demographic factors have had a conservative effect. At present, there is a considerable range of dialect diversity within Newfoundland, which correlates with both social and regional factors, as well as speech register.