# Latino - includes Spain?



## Gringito

Hello All,

Is there a word that refers to all spanish speaking cultures?


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## Reina140

Latino would be correct.  Italians are from latin decent also.


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## shreck2

I used to think so, but I think it no longer does... Anyway, let's wait for some other people to try and let us Know!


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## calista

hi, I think is only "Spanish-speaking cultures" "culturas de habla hispana" this includes Spain ... "Latin" is used specifically for Latin American countries ... hope this helps


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## Happy2006

I think the term that best includes all the Spanish-speaking people is "Hispano-parlantes"


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## calista

Regarding the answering of Reina, despite Italians are latin decent also, in Spanish the word "Latino" is not referred to a Latin origin, but to South America ... I can say this properly, cause I'm from South America!


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## Reina140

calista said:


> Regarding the answering of Reina, despite Italians are latin decent also, in Spanish the word "Latino" is not referred to a Latin origin, but to South America ... I can say this properly, cause I'm from South America!


 
South America?  What about Central America?


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## Santiago Jorge

"Latino" is word that lacks precision, because as someone said previously, it could refer to Italians too.  But, it is commonly used in the US and when someone uses it, they are usually thinking of someone coming from Latin America.


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## Outsider

Gringito said:


> Hello All,
> 
> Is there a word that refers to all spanish speaking cultures?


Yes. It's _hispanohablante_.


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## sunrize

Latino and Spaniard are different.  I know the languages are different and the culture is very different as well.


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## L'Alchimiste

I believe the "American" expression "Latino" is a kind of shortening that comes from "Latino-Americano". However Reina is right, etymologically speaking the word "Latino" comes from the word "Latin", so as many occidental cultures comes from Latin (Greco-Roman) Latin includes: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French and certainly Latin American languages and countries.


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## fran kornbacher

What about Mexicans that here in California proclaman ser latinos especialmente los chicanos?

Take Care


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## Santiago Jorge

"Chicano" referes to "latinos" who were born in the US of parents who were born in Mexico.


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## Outsider

The original question was about "Spanish speaking cultures", which I don't believe needs to be conflated with the Latino ethnicity.


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## Camilo1964

Hi all:

As far as I know the adjective _*latino *_comes from the _latin culture in Rome_, named this way for the language they used to speak: *latin*.

*Romance Languages *(italian, spanish, portuguese and french) are all derived from latin language.

So, the countries where _romance languages_ are spoken (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and all their former colonies in America or Africa, for instance: Mexico, Brasil, Colombia, Martinique, etcetera) would share the adjective *latin* as *paises latinos*.

But, nowadays, the word *latino* seems to be restricted to refer citizens from *Latinoamerica*. Personally, I disagree with that limited use of the word *latino,* but it is just my humble opinion.

Regards,

Camilo


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## Happy2006

sunrize said :"Latino and Spaniard are different. I know the languages are different and the culture is very different as well"

Yes, Latino and Spaniard mean different things.I think "latino" is used in the U.S. to name all people coming from Central and South America. Spaniard is a person from Spain. 
What I don't agree with you is that we speak different languages. We all speak Spanish, and in spite of some local variations in vocabulary and pronunciation, we do communicate perfectly well. The culture has the same roots, however there are some local differences but Iwouldn't say that it is *very different.*


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## Gringito

Thank you all very much. 

By the way; In the United State there is the more or less official expression "Hispanic American" but that is not Spanish.


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## Santiago Jorge

Yes, that word has become the current fashion of the politically correct these days, but there is no one word whose precision can satisfy everybody.


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## Fernando

Agreed:

- There are some ads in Spain where Spaniards are seen as "latinos", specially in opposition with Northern Europeans.

- I think that "Latino" in US usually means "Latin American" or everybody-whose-ancestors-come-from-Mexico-and-further-South.

- "Latin Europe" (Europa Latina) stands for Spain, Portugal, Italy, France (at least the Southern part) and (when referred to the language), Romania.


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## fran kornbacher

Segun la RAE: Natural del Lacio. (lengua hablada por los antiguos romanosU.t.c.s. 2. pertenenciente o relativo a los pueblos de Lacio, o a las ciudades con derecho *latino *3. pertenenciente o relativo a la lengua latina. 4. natural de los pueblos de Europa y America en que se habaln lenguas derivadas del Latin.
Latinoamericano= se dice del conjunto de los paises de America colonizados por naciones latinas, es decir Espana, Portugal o Francia. O sea Latino no quiere decir que pertenencemos a cierta region sino porque hablamos espanol un derivado del Latin.

Take Care


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## natasha2000

Camilo1964 said:


> As far as I know the adjective _*latino *_comes from the _latin culture in Rome_, named this way for the language they used to speak: *latin*.
> 
> *Romance Languages *(italian, spanish, portuguese and french) are all derived from latin language.


 
As far as I know, not only those four languages are Romance languages. There are also Rumanian, Catalonian, Galician, Occitan and many other languages, yet, they cannot be considered as latino cultures.

I agree with the others.
The term latino referrs to people from Spanish speaking countries in America (North, Central and South). I suppose it appeared in USA for the first time...


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## UUBiker

Former Vice President Quayle says it's anyone who speaks Latin.  Isn't that obvious?


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## natasha2000

UUBiker said:


> Former Vice President Quayle says it's anyone who speaks Latin. Isn't that obvious?


 
I don't know who's Mr. Quayle, but I can see he is a VERY intelligent man  ....


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## Outsider

UUBiker said:


> Former Vice President Quayle says it's anyone who speaks Latin.  Isn't that obvious?


Here's a prominent (if controversial) Latino, then.


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## yanqui

This is from a website (alsgenealogy.com/hispanic-vs-latin.htm) which discusses the terms 'hispanic' and 'latino':


The US government  needed to count its              ever increasing number of Spanish speaking people but, they realized              early on that these Spanish speakers did not have any unifying physical              characteristics such as color of skin, texture of hair, shape of              eyes, etc.  As such, Spanish speakers could not be categorized as              members of a single race.  In addition to that they did not even              share a common religion.  In order to count its Spanish speaking              citizens, the US government needed a category other than "White,"              "Black", "Native American" or "Asian". Thus the term "*Hispanic*"              was included on all government forms and applications requiring such              information.  Eventually, the term made its way into the private              sector as well. 
*T*his practice,              however, has lead to some additional confusion, since the other              categories  "White", "Black", etc. refer to race while "*Hispanic*"              was intended to refer to a cultural or ethnic group.  This led              many people to refer to a "Hispanic race", which is a totally              erroneous statement.              
*I*n Europe             *Latins* are generally accepted to              be individuals coming from a country where a Latin language is              spoken.  Individuals coming from France, Portugal, Spain, Italy,              Albania and Romania are called *Latins*.               The European view of *Latin*              America is simply as a geographical location.  The European view of the term             *Hispanic* is fairly precise.               It refers to Spain, its culture, the Spanish speaking people of  * Latin* America and/or their culture.               It appears that the Europeans have things in their proper              perspective.
*I*t is in the US that              the terms *Latin* and * Hispanic* are often misapplied and              confused. The terms mean different things to different people.  In              some areas of the US, for instance, Puerto Ricans and Cubans are              considered *Latinos* but Mexicans              and Colombians are not.  In other areas *             Latin* and *Latino* mean              different things.  I have even heard some individuals say that the              term *Hispanic* was created by the              "Anglos" in order to lump us all together and in the same breath say              that the term *Hispano* is good              because it tends to bring the Spanish speaking people together.               Go figure. 
*
So, What Are We,  Latin or              Hispanic ?*

*I*t depends on how              you feel.  Many Spanish speaking Native Americans do not want              to be called *Latins* as they do              not wish to be associated with the Europeans that subjugated and              enslaved their ancestors.  I respect this.  Some of our              young people think that *Latin*             and *             Latino* are cool while *Hispanic *is not.  More than a few of us don't like the              word *Hispanic* because they feel              that the word was invented by the US government to count us like you              would count sheep.  They refuse to check the boxes on              government forms and job applications.  
*A*s genealogical and              historical researchers, and especially for the sake of  future              researchers, I think it's our responsibility to assure that our              culture and people are portrayed as accurately as possible.  If we              must categorize ourselves, then let us do this with an inclusive              rather than an exclusive term.  A term that unites us, rather              than divides us.  *Latin* and             *Latino* are words that are just              too general to describe us.  You could be talking about Italian              and French speakers when you refer to *             Latins*.  When you use the word * Hispanic* there is no doubt that one              is referring to Spanish speakers or at the very least individuals              that have some tie to either the Spanish language or its culture.  No, I don't think that the word * Hispanic* lumps us all together.               It unites us and there is strength in unity.  I vote for the              word *Hispanic* because it              provides us with an opportunity for unity and strength.


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## natasha2000

Yanqui, very interesting and most educative post.

There is only one little mistake, but I think it shouldn't be overseen.

Albanian language IS NOT latin-based language.
It belongs to indo-european languages, but it itself forms a special group of Illyrian languages. It has has to do with latin and romance langues as much as it has to do some slavic or germanic language...


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## natasha2000

chics said:


> In any case, in Europe, Americains never come to our mind when saying just _latino_...


 
This is very interesting statement, since I come from Europe and my first association to the word latino is Spanish speaking people from America. I do not think of Spain or Italy, and France or Romania are not even in my wildest dreams....


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## yanqui

natasha2000 said:


> Yanqui, very interesting and most educative post.
> 
> There is only one little mistake, but I think it shouldn't be overseen.
> 
> Albanian language IS NOT latin-based language.
> It belongs to indo-european languages, but it itself forms a special group of Illyrian languages. It has has to do with latin and romance langues as much as it has to do some slavic or germanic language...



Interesting, I didn't notice that when first reading the website, however I did a quick google search and found this:

"Albanian has been written with the Latin alphabet since 1908. Earlier it was written with a writing system originating from Latin, Greek, and Arabic. The Albanian language was used as early as the 13th century. Albanian has been strongly influenced by other languages. Very few old texts remain. This makes it difficult to place Albanian in the Indo-European family of languages. Usually the Albanian language is considered a language family of its own within the family of Indo-European languages."


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## fran kornbacher

Bravo Yanqui muy interesante tu informacion.

Take Care


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## natasha2000

yanqui said:


> Interesting, I didn't notice that when first reading the website, however I did a quick google search and found this:
> 
> "Albanian has been written with the Latin alphabet since 1908. Earlier it was written with a writing system originating from Latin, Greek, and Arabic. The Albanian language was used as early as the 13th century. Albanian has been strongly influenced by other languages. Very few old texts remain. This makes it difficult to place Albanian in the Indo-European family of languages. Usually the Albanian language is considered a language family of its own within the family of Indo-European languages."


 
Yanqui, if Albanian was or is written with Latin script, it still does not prove it belongs to Romance languages. If we follow that rule, then almost ALL languages in the world can be considered Romance or derived from Latin. Many Slavic languages are written only in Latin alphabet, even Turkish is written in Latin alphabet.
Recently, I discovered that Bosnian was also written with Arabic letters for some time a couple of centuries ago. But it still does not mean that Bosnian is Arabic language. It is, was and always will be Slavic language.


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## chics

...as English is not latin, although you _also_ use latin script!


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## fran kornbacher

How come chicanos born in the U.S who doesn't speak a word of spanish call themselves Latinos and constantly saying Viva la Raza. What race? the Latin race or the hispanic race. it is confusing.

Take Care


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## yanqui

natasha2000 said:


> Yanqui, if Albanian was or is written with Latin script, it still does not prove it belongs to Romance languages. If we follow that rule, then almost ALL languages in the world can be considered Romance or derived from Latin. Many Slavic languages are written only in Latin alphabet, even Turkish is written in Latin alphabet.
> Recently, I discovered that Bosnian was also written with Arabic letters for some time a couple of centuries ago. But it still does not mean that Bosnian is Arabic language. It is, was and always will be Slavic language.



Interesting -- just proves the old adage that you learn something new every day!


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## yanqui

fran kornbacher said:


> How come chicanos born in the U.S who doesn't speak a word of spanish call themselves Latinos and constantly saying Viva la Raza. What race? the Latin race or the hispanic race. it is confusing.
> 
> Take Care


I think it's just a way to take pride in your ancestry. I'm of Cuban (Spanish) heritage but as you can tell by my posts in here mi español no es gran cosa. "Viva la raza" seems to me to be more of a expression used by people of Mexican ancestry (Chicanos) and refers to Indio heritage.


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## Outsider

> The European view of the term             *Hispanic* is fairly precise.               It refers to Spain, its culture, the Spanish speaking people of  * Latin* America and/or their culture.               It appears that the Europeans have things in their proper              perspective.


I don't think the term "Hispanic" is used at all in Europe... "Latin", yes, but "Latino" and "Hispanic" are both foreign terms around here. People use "Latin American", to refer to Latin America.
Admittedly, my experience is limited...


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## Outsider

chics said:


> But when we talk about latin culture we usually include all the mediterranian area, this can include Greece or Turquey but not always Paris (France) or Bilbao (Spain).


I'm very surprised by what you say. I would never have described Greece or Turkey as Latin countries!
Mediterranean, unquestionably, but not Latin.


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## natasha2000

chics said:


> Ok, Natasha, you're true... i'm not everybody
> I change _Europe_ for _Barcelone_.
> Uuuhm... I'm sure you're fan of David Bisbal, hi hi. In *music* it's true that we say latino for a defined style (spain+America?), and we would say mediterranian if not. But not in culture, eating, way of live.


 

NOOO, for Crist's sake, NO!  BTW, Bisbal is more like "musica comercial española", isn't it? Latino is samba, rumba, cha cha cha... Well, at least for me, and neither of it comes from Spain...

Mediterranian is another term thathas nothing to do with term latin. you yourself said so. Mediterranean includes Greece and Turkey, Croatia and Montenegro in some extended way, and all those countries have nothing to do with "latino". I must admit, that "musica comerical española" has more to do with Croatian pop than with music from Latin America... And food is more similar, ingredients are similar... Olive oil is not as used in Latin America as it is used in all Mediterranean countries, for example... Recently I was told by an Argentinian that they do not use olive oil...


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## Vanest

fran kornbacher said:


> How come chicanos born in the U.S who doesn't speak a word of spanish call themselves Latinos and constantly saying Viva la Raza. What race? the Latin race or the hispanic race. it is confusing.
> 
> Take Care


 
Hola a todos:

Creo que eso de que las personas de raíces latinoamericanas que viven en los Estados Unidos se hacen llamar 'latinos' tiene que ver con esa canción de Proyecto Uno que dice "Dime si son latinos...". Tengo muchos amigos que, al volver al Ecuador después de vivir en los EE.UU. de repente decían que eran 'latinos' y oían esta canción a toda hora... Tal vez no, pero a veces la música tiene mucho que ver con el surgimiento de frases o palabras 'nuevas'.


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## nv1962

A few comments on the question in the topic title itself: "Does the term "Latino" include Spain?"

The term Latino refers to *people*, not a *country*.

So, "Spain" is not included when refering to (say) "the Latino community". In the US, one would very rarely find someone saying (for example) "the Latino world".

Also, there's a not unimportant matter of usage context: it's not the same refering to Latinos _within_ the US, as it is refering, for example, to Latino _culture_ in general, as in: worldwide.

There's a sensitivity surrounding the use of Latino "versus" Hispanic within the US. For many "native" Spanish speakers, Hispanic bears strong connotations with Spanish and Spain, which for historic (colonial past) reasons is rejected by those. That's why they prefer Latino, instead. On the other hand, there are some who in fact _prefer_ using that, as a _cultural_ (linguistic) identifier.

Having said that, in US English one will hear Latino and Hispanic used interchangeably.

It's among "native" Spanish speakers that you will find clear preferences for one or the other.

So, "Latino" in the context of the US _may_ refer to people coming from Spain (disclosure: like myself, I'm a Spaniard) but it _generally_ is understood to refer to people from Latin America.

Sidenote: it's interesting to hear in Spain the term _Iberoamérica_ or _iberoamericano_ which interestingly _combines_ Latin America and the two Iberian countries, Spain and Portugal; I find it interesting, as it language usage following a political initiative (i.e., the regular summit meetings among government leaders and heads of states of all those countries).

But getting back on topic, I'd say that "Latino" (as an adjective) doesn't _typically_ signify an implied inclusion of Spain, the country - it _may_ imply a _cultural / linguistic_ reference, however.


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## clarititita

Happy2006 said:


> I think the term that best includes all the Spanish-speaking people is "Hispano-parlantes"


Parlar is to speak in Italian, hispano-hablante sounds and looks better


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## clarititita

Gringito said:


> Hello All,
> 
> Is there a word that refers to all spanish speaking cultures?


No, it does not include Spain. Latin America as the word is constructed include all the American continent, south , central, and half of the north part of this continent.This include Mexico because they speak Spanish


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## Misty Celeste

If you want to analyze a popular use of the word "latino", think about the Grammies. The "Grammies latinos" do also include Spanish artists, as Alejandro Sanz, so I would say that Spain is also included in the general meaning of "latino".

You can also think about Spanish people famous in the USA, as Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas. There, they are regarded as latinos, I would say, because they play "latinos" roles. Look at Antonio Banderas in _The Zorro_, and at Penélope Cruz in _Bandidas_, thay play latinos.

Da q pensar, eh?? =D


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## Happy2006

clarititita said:


> Parlar is to speak in Italian, hispano-hablante sounds and looks better


 
Claritita: hispanoparlante and hispanohablante son sinónimos.
Lo busqué recién en el diccionario de la Real Academia Española.

*hispanoparlante**.**1.* adj. *hispanohablante.* Apl. a pers., http://forum.wordreference.com/u. t. c. s.http://forum.wordreference.com/


_Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados_


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## qrisgeorge

Gringito said:


> Hello All,
> 
> Is there a word that refers to all spanish speaking cultures?


 
I found it very interesting when I was travelling through Europe that Spaniards would refer to themselves as Latino.  This terminology to them also included Italians and possibly those from the very south of France (Cote Azur region).  This was justified by the fact that the Spanish language has Latin [language] roots; however, so does Italian, French, Portuguese, and Romanian.  Romanians and for the most part, the French as well, are definitely not considered Latin as a people.  Perhaps the more correct term would be Mediterranian, or Western Mediterranian - or even more precisely Northwestern Mediterranian, as clearly Moroccans and Libyans are not included here.

In the Americas, (at least to us New Yorkers) Latino is the current politically correct term that refers to people from the Caribbean and Central and South America, essentially the Spanish-speaking countries.  We generally also mean to include Brazil, although they speak Portuguese; however, this clearly would exclude islands like St. Maarten, Bahamas, and Haiti who speak Dutch, French, and variations of English.e 

As a white American male New Yorker gorwing up, all those who spoke Spanish (or a variation of or a language similar to Spanish) were, in our own ignorance, "Spanish people".  This is of course absurd to a person form Spain if we were descibing a man form Cuba, or better still, Brazil.  In fact there was always the "Spanish Channel" on TV whereby anyone seen on that network we would consider - again ignorantly - Spanish.  Clearly, probably none of these people were.

From a governmental perspective, people of Spanish, Latin, or Hispanic decent were not even recognized until [I believe] the 1990 census.  Before then, people needed to either choose black, white, or asian.  No such option was there for Latinos.  Now there is a distinction made between "Hispanic" and "White/non-Hispanic".  eitehr way, the terms I find a bit offensive, as if to not only not use the proper term for this group, "Latino", but almost as if to extract Latinos from the white population as if they would otehrwise taint their racial group.

In the past Latinos were referred to as Hispanics; however that has more recently becoem recognized as a derogatory term for a Latino person, suggesting they are of lower class or even slave workers.  The term has roots tracing back to when Spanish conquistadors who enslaved Caribbean natives who leanered the Spanish Language.  

Lastly, from a social perspective, in most parts of the United States, Latinos are often grouped with blacks as minorities, and therefore sometimes also labeled poverty-stricken, less educated, and possibly crime-ridden.  This is especially true from what I've heard from people from middle-America (the mid-Western US).  Contrastingly, in some cities like Miami - and certainly in Spain! - Latins view themselves as white, and reject black culture altogether.  Latins and whites live as one population in some of these cases and view blacks as the other.  This is a very different racism that is seen in NY and is sad but facinating to me.

Anyway, just some thoughts on things I've noticed.  This was not intended to offend anyone, and I welcome any comments, observations or opposing views.  

Love to all,
Eric


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## Outsider

Hello and welcome to the forum, Qrisgeorge.



qrisgeorge said:


> I found it very interesting when I was travelling through Europe that Spaniards would refer to themselves as Latino.  This terminology to them also included Italians and possibly those from the very south of France (Cote Azur region).  This was justified by the fact that the Spanish language has Latin [language] roots; however, so does Italian, French, Portuguese, and Romanian.  Romanians and for the most part, the French as well, are definitely not considered Latin as a people.


Depends on who you ask. I have heard them included among "the Latin peoples" in Europe. You should not assume that American classifications are the only ones there are in the world.

As a matter of fact, it seems the Latin ethnicity was first popularized by the French in the 19th century, when they tried to take over Mexico with the pretext that _nous sommes tous des latins_. If the label was good enough for them then, why not now? 



qrisgeorge said:


> Perhaps the more correct term would be Mediterranian, or Western Mediterranian - or even more precisely Northwestern Mediterranian, as clearly Moroccans and Libyans are not included here.


There are no truly accurate terms for ethnicities, which are social constructs.



qrisgeorge said:


> In the Americas, (at least to us New Yorkers) Latino is the current politically correct term that refers to people from the Caribbean and Central and South America, essentially the Spanish-speaking countries.  We generally also mean to include Brazil, although they speak Portuguese; however, this clearly would exclude islands like St. Maarten, Bahamas, and Haiti who speak Dutch, French, and variations of English.e


You might want to rephrase that to "in the United States". Don't assume that your neighbours south of the border see the world as you do in such matters. Or your cousins across the ocean.


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## Hiro Sasaki

Hola,



1. Los latinos son hispanoparlantes

2. de personas de las lenguas derivadas del latín.

3. Antiguos latinos que habitaban en Roma.
.
Sin embargo,

En Venezuela, los italianos me dijeron “ Nosotros los latinos”. 

En cambio, en una novela peruana, los franceses se describen 
“gringos”.

Los italianos se adaptan al mundo hispánico muy fácil y rápidamente.
Me dijeron “ Podemos adaptar a la vida de aquí en unos tres meses.

Saludos

Hiro Sasaki


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