Hispanic Americans and
Latino Americans ( , ) are
United States citizens, descending from the peoples of the countries of
Latin America and
Iberia. More generally, it includes all persons in the United States who self-identify as
Hispanic or
Latino, whether of full or partial ancestry. For the US census in 2010, American Community Survey, people counted as "Hispanic" or "Latino" are those who identify as one of the specific Hispanic or Latino categories listed on the census or ACS questionnaire ("Mexican," "Puerto Rican," or "Cuban") as well as those who indicate that they are "other Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino." The countries or people who are in the Hispanic or Latino American groups as classified by the Census Bureau are the following:
Spain,
Mexico,
Puerto Rico,
Cuba,
Dominican Republic,
Costa Rica,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Nicaragua,
Panama,
El Salvador,
Argentina,
Bolivia,
Chile,
Colombia,
Ecuador,
Paraguay,
Peru,
Uruguay, and
Venezuela. It is important to note that the Census office of the U.S. excludes
Brazilian Americans from the Hispanic and Latino American population (
Brazil is part of
Latin America, but has a
Portuguese language culture rather than a
Spanish language culture).