Why are Spanish and Portugese speaking people called latinos/latinas?

Question

People from Spain/Portugal have completely different roots than people from South America and the Caribbean. So why are they all called Latinos/Latinas? Where did this term come from?

but don't Italians and French also have latin roots?

also, most people from South America have native American roots don't they?

Answer 1

Mexicans and south americans have native american roots, and people from spain are NOT called latinos/latinas and portugal is referred to as latinos/latinas because that is what they decided to call themselves..

Answer 2

Yes, Frenchmen and Italians are also Latins, along with most Spanish speakers. The Spanish speaking countries in the Western Hemisphere were populated by Spain, France, Portugal, et al. These are peoples that were part of the Roman Empire, spoke Latin, and had their languages branch off (all still part of the Romance Language family). Latino/latina used to literally translate to Latin. It's a bit of a cultural transformation that's made it come to mean one that speaks Spanish, rather than one who is a Latin.

Answer 3

Actually, people from Spain & Portugal are not and cannot be, by definition, Latinos/Latinas. Those terms only apply to persons from Latin America, without regard to Hispanicity.
It's true that they, like the Italians, French & Romanians, speak a romance language based on Latin. As such, it's very easy to see how easily a person might assume Latino & Latina to mean Latin but, in the context of ethnicity, they do not mean the same thing. Also, through popular usuage, those terms have come to suggest the typical mestizo in the minds of many, if not most, people. Perhaps people are unaware that fully one-third of the population of Latin America is comprised of unmixed whites. In fact, the populations of Argentina & Uruguay are overwhelmingly white. (Very Italian in Argentina!) Chile is also largely white and most Cuban-Americans are unmixed whites.
Of course, folks from Spain & Portugal are white Europeans and you could certainly say that people from Spain are Hispanic (not the Portugese or Brazilians) but, trust me, many don't care at all for that term because, just as with with Latino, popular usage has led many people to assume it strictly refers to mestizos when, in fact, it actually means derived from Spain or suggests a direct connection with that country. Anyway, both are bad terms, misunderstood & misused.

Answer 4

Well Spanish and Portugese languages are Latin based. The people, on the other hand, are classified differently. Spanish speaking people are either Hispanic or Latino. Portugese (from Brazil) are Latino or maybe called Brazilians. Portugese and Spaniards are Europeans, not Latinos.

I define myself as Hispanic, just because I'm not too fond with the term Latino.

Answer 5

They speak a latin based language.
People from South America and The Caribbean have their roots in Spain and Portugal.

Answer 6

Because both the Spanish and the Portuguese languages are derived from Latin. For that matter, so are Italian, French, Romanian, and a few others. They could all be considered latinos.

Answer 7

We Latinos (Mexico, Central America, Caribbeans and PARTS of South America that speak Spanish) do not consider Spain and Portugual as being Latinos! Even tought we have many close ties with Spain, they are not Latin

Answer 8

until eventually a individual is taught the different variations between each and each of the Latin dialects it sounds like Spanish. maximum individuals are presented Spanish as a language to absorb school and are not taught the various dialects and are not even made conscious many cases that there are variations between the way a Colombian, a Puerto Rican, etc. communicate. once you learn how to talk "Spanish" then visit different Latin worldwide places this is purely then which you recognize that the language is slightly diverse. it is not consistently lack of understanding, this is extra a loss of preparation. Be an educator and unfold the be conscious.

Answer 9

Because Spanish and Portugese are two of the many romance languages that derived from latin.

Answer 10

That comes from the Latin language. Italians are latinos too.