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The term Hispanic, as dominated by the Office of Management and Budget, is used in the United States for people with origins in Spanish-speaking countries, like Mexico, Costa Rica. Hispanic is not a race, as the Chilean Nobel Prize Gabriela Mistral once said, "mi patria es mi lengua" (My fatherland is my language). Latino, from American Spanish, is used in some cases as an abbreviation for latino americano or "Latin American" and tends to be used interchangeably with Hispanic in the United States, despite the fact these two words are not synonyms. The term "Latin America" was used for the first time in 1861/1867, when the French occupied Mexico and wanted to be included in what has been known until then as "América Española" or "Spanish America".

The 1970 Census was the first time that a "Hispanic" identifier was used and data collected with the question. The definition of "Hispanic" has been modified in each successive census. The 2000 Census asked if the person was "Spanish/Hispanic/Latino".

"The terms "Hispanic" or "Latino" refer to persons who trace their origin or descent to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Spanish speaking Central and South America countries, and other Spanish cultures. Origin can be considered as the heritage, nationality group, lineage, or country of the person or the person's parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States. People who identify their origin as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race."

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget currently defines "Hispanic or Latino" as "a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race". This definition excludes people of Portuguese origins, such as Portuguese Americans or Brazilian Americans. However, they are included in some government agencies' definitions. For example, the U.S. Department of Transportation defines Hispanic to include, "persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central or South American, or others Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin, regardless of race." This definition has been adopted by the Small Business Administration as well as many federal, state, and municipal agencies for the purposes of awarding government contracts to minority owned businesses. In addition, both the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Conference include representatives of both Spanish and Portuguese descent.

Still, other government agencies adopt definitions that exclude people from Spain, since there is a distinct ethnic difference (indigenous American or European American). Some others include people from Brazil, but not Spain or Portugal. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission encourages any individual who believes that he or she is Hispanic to self-identify as Hispanic. The United States Department of Labor - Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs encourages the same self-identification. As a result, any individual who traces his or her origins to part of the Spanish Empire or Portuguese Empire may self-identify as Hispanic, because an employer may not override an individual's self-identification

Latino, from American Spanish, is used in some cases as an abbreviation for latino americano or "Latin American" and tends to be used interchangeably with Hispanic in the United States, despite the fact these two words are not synonyms.

"Latino" (scare quotes intentional, and precise) is not even a word in English. I consulted my 1967 Merriam-Webster Third New Collegiate dictionary, and it isn't there.

The point being, it's a word that has been "whomped up" by ethnocentric advocates who are no friends of the American people, and therefore their usages should be shunned on hygienic grounds. Do not use the language of your enemies.

Defenders of "latino" say that it is a calque, a loan-word borrowed for lack of a good English equivalent (implicit here is the claim that "Hispanic" isn't descriptive enough). That's true, only if you concede that what was wanted was a propaganda term-of-art that did not exist in English (or in Spanish, either -- "latino" doesn't mean in these guys' usage what it means in Spanish). Therefore "latino" is not a good calque and simply should not be used at all.

As a result, any individual who traces his or her origins to part of the Spanish Empire or Portuguese Empire may self-identify as Hispanic, because an employer may not override an individual's self-identification

Ironic, since they themselves refer to persons descended from the Portuguese as "Lusitanic".

Portugal has been ethnically and linguistically distinct from Iberian or Celtiberian Spain since early Roman times. In fact, the ancient Lusitani may have been a non-Celtic, but Indo-European-speaking people, like the Illyrians and Messapians.

Even modern Portuguese is descended from Late Latin, like French and Catalan, rather than Old Latin (as Spanish is). Hence the strong divergences in pronunciation and spelling from Spanish usage.