Hispanic and Latino/Latina
: Hispanic and Latino/Latina are not identical in meaning and use, though many people use them interchangeably. Hispanic, the broader term, comes from a Spanish word for "Spain." As such, it can refer to not only the Spanish-speaking people of North, Central, and South America (the Hispanic communities of South Florida; a university population composed chiefly of Hispanics from Argentina and Colombia), but to all such speakers worldwide whose first language is Spanish and whose descent is from Spain (Hispanic students from Madrid are studying at our college). By contrast, Latino and the feminine form Latina are shortened from Spanish latinamericano, "Latin American," thus narrowing the scope of meaning to Central and South America, as in the Latino cultural centers of San Diego and Many of our exchange students in the women's studies program are Latinas. Within the many Spanish-speaking communities of the United States, local or regional preferences are also in play, with Latino/Latina used more often on the West Coast and especially California, and Hispanic used more often in states such as Florida and Texas.
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