| | Hispanic
| Latino
|
| Terminology
| Hispanic refers to language. Hispanic if you and/or your ancestry come from a country where they speak Spanish.
| Latino refers to geography. Specifically, to Latin America, to people from the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic), South America (Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, etc.) and Central America (Honduras, Costa Rica, etc.)
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| In the U.S.
| Was first adopted by the United States government during the administration of Richard Nixon It has been used in the U.S. Census since 1980. "Hispanic" is used more often in states such as Florida and Texas.
| The government adopted these terms because they did not have an inclusive term to identify and segregate the mixed white with black and native "mestizo or mulato people of Central and South America.
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| Derived from
| The term "Hispanic" comes from a Latin word for Spain "Hispania", which later became "España". It refers to a person of Latin American or Iberian ancestry, fluent in Spanish.
| The term "Latino" is shortened from Spanish latino americano, "Latin American" thus narrowing the scope of meaning to Central and South America, and Spanish speaking Carribean Islands.
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| Usage
| "Hispanic" is primarily used along the Eastern seaboard, and favored by those of Caribbean and South American ancestry or origin.
| “Latino” is principally used west of the Mississippi, where it has displaced “Chicano” and “Mexican American.”
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Each of the racial categories includes people who identify their ethnicity as Hispanic or Latino. [52] U.S. federal law defines Hispanic or Latino as "those who classify themselves in one of the specific Hispanic or Latino categories listed on the Census 2000 or ACS questionnaire"—Mexican", "Puerto Rican", or "Cuban"—as well as those who indicate that they are "other Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino.""[53]
Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.
The total population of Hispanic and Latino Americans comprised 50.5 million or 16.3% of the national total in 2010.
