Hispanic (Spanish: Hispano) is a term denoting a derivation from Spain, her people and culture. It follows the same style of use as Anglo indicates a derivation of England and the English. Thus, the Spanish-American War in Spanish is known as Guerra Hispano-Estadounidense, the "Spanish-German Treaty" is Tratado Hispano-Alemán, and "Spanish America" is Hispanoamérica.
As used in the United States, Hispanic is one of several terms employed to categorize all persons whose ancestry hails either from the people of Spain, any of the various peoples of Spanish-speaking Latin America, or the original settlers of the traditionally Spanish-held Southwestern United States. The term is used as a broad form of classification in the U.S. census, local and federal employment, and numerous business market researches.
In Spain, Spanish-speaking Latin America and most countries outside the United States, Hispanic/Hispano is not commonly employed as an indicator of ancestry, however, this can be implied depending on the context. When used in this manner, in Spanish-speaking Latin America an Hispano is commonly regarded to be any person whose ancestry stems, in whole or in part, from the people of Spain — to the contrast of the non-Hispanic (ie. non-Spanish descended) population. In this sense, when speaking of a nation's Hispanic population, those who are implied are Spaniards, criollos, mestizos, and mulattos, to the exclusion of indigenous Amerindians, unmixed descendants of black African slaves or other non-Spanish descended peoples who may reside in each respective country, regardless of whether they now use Spanish as their first and only language.
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Mexican Americans. After its independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico continued active colonization of its northern territory, which ranged from California to Texas and as far north as southern Wyoming. Following the Mexican War in 1847, the United States obtained most of the present-day Southwest, and residents of Mexico in this region found themselves living in U.S. territory. Over the past 150 years, Mexico has been a major departure site for immigration to the United States. In 1999, Mexican Americans comprised about two-thirds of all Hispanics in the U.S. population.
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The word Latino as used in the Americas and most of the English-speaking world is borrowed from the Spanish word latinoamericano (the Portuguese word is also latinoamericano) and in the United States refers to inhabitants of Latin America, and their descendents living outside of Latin America. Its usual connotation is Ibero-American or Spanish American; Francophone Canadians are not normally referred to as Latino, even though they speak a Romance language. However, iberoamericano and hispanoamericano are only synonymous if hispano, which is a term generally applied to castillian-speakers, is to be considered synonymous to ibero, which is a term describing all of the Iberian peninsula or Hispania. Latino as a synonym of iberoamericano or of hispanoamericano in Latin America may depend on which linguistic region it is used within - Spanish or Portuguese. Therefore, to say latino is only applicable to Latin Americans, spanish speakers to be more precise, and to say latino is synonymous with iberoamericano is a clear contradiction. These contradictions and varying points of view become problematic and some more examples can be seen in the section Criticism of the United States usage.
The concept of "Latin America" was coined by the French in the 1800's as a means of legitimizing French influence over the Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas; compare Latin Europe. Napoleon III, cited Amérique Latine and Indochine as goals for expansion during his reign. The term emphasized a common culture and history of the Latin-speaking peoples