Hispanic or Latino Americans are
Americans with
origins in the countries of
Latin America and Spain and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.
Reflecting especially the Latin American population, which has origins in all the continents and many ancestries,
Hispanic/Latino Americans are very racially diverse, and as a result form an
ethnic category, rather than a
race.
While the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, "Hispanic" potentially encompasses persons of Spanish-speaking origin or ancestry, while "Latino" is more frequently used to refer more generally to anyone of Latin American origin or ancestry, including Brazilians.
The choice of name among those of Spanish-speaking origin is also associated with location: persons of Spanish-speaking origins residing in the eastern United States tend to prefer the term Hispanic, whereas those in the west tend to prefer Latino.