Why do many people refer to Spanish people as people from Latin America??

Question

SPANISH people come from SPAIN, which is in EUROPE!!!

SPANISH people come from SPAIN, in EUROPE. Most people in Latin America are Spanish speakers, but not Spanish.

I'm not talking about LANGUAGE - just because Spanish is your 'mother tongue' this does not make you Spanish - which is my point!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Stupidity.

Look at the guy who said "Latin America= spanish along with spain." How daft do you have to be in order to say that? This ignores the European locality of the Iberian peninsula, while at the same time ignoring the vast ethnic diversity in Latin America.

Imbeciles abound in the parts of the internet.

Answer 2

The French coined the name Latin America when they occupied Mexico in the 1800s to sound distinguished. In the US Latino is interchangable with Hispanic. The census has identified Hispanic by mother tongue (Spanish), country of origin (Latin America OR Spain) or Spanish surname. Today the census uses a method of self identification to designate people as Latino or Hispanic.

Answer 3

I have absolutely no idea other than Spanish is a latin based language, that developed into modern day Spanish so everyone who speaks Spanish gets lumped into a catagory of Latin speaking. Which is ignorant because even English is based of of Latin. Not to mention there is no actual country called Latin America. I find it stupid myself that so many people keep calling Spanish speaking people Latin Americans.

Answer 4

Because Spanish, like Italian, Portuguese, French, and one or two others, are collectively called Romance languages (because they're offshoots of Latin, origin--Rome). All the Central and So. American countries speak one of those languages, but mostly Spanish--not counting more recent immigrants from Germany, India, China, etc.

Answer 5

In most online surveys and professional atmosphere's Spanish ethnicities are referred to as Latino. As a result most who are not familiar with the culture think all Spanish are Latins.

Just like the Native American culture. Yes their Native Americans but not all are from the same tribe.

Answer 6

Spanish conquerers invaded Latin America: how do you think Spanish became the main language
hence, spanish culture and heritage is in communion with the indian/ native heritage before the conquest
and therefore: Latin America= spanish along with spain

Answer 7

i agree with the ignorance answer. they think b cus we speak spanish we are called spanish. I was once told it is because calling someone a mexican is an insult. This from someone who was white. I found it funny............i didnt know being mexican american or even mexican was an insult. Ignorance at its finest.

Answer 8

Attempting to be politically correct without getting all the facts.

Answer 9

ignorance