SouthLand, in my opinion Latin is not necessarily from Central/South America. Latin is related to the Latin language. Therefore, any language that is derived from Latin such as Portuguese, French, Italian etc are Latin. And so are the people who speak their language. I suppose because there are so many more Spanish speaking people than the other languages, it is just assumed that when one speaks of a Latin person they are referring to a Spanish speaking person. Not really fair to the rest of the Latins out there, though (like me : )).
Below, from Wikipedia:
"Latino (feminine latina) in the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, literally translates as "Latin". For example, Portuguese dictionaries define the demonym latino to refer to natives of Romance-speaking nations influenced by Roman civilization, and to the natives or inhabitants of ancient Latium (modern Lazio).[25][26] Italian dictionaries define the demonym latino as: the ancient Latins and Romans, and their language, Latin, as well as the neo-Latin nations.[27][28] The dictionary of the Real Academia Española defines ten meanings for latino, including the ancient peoples of Latium and the modern Romance-speaking European and American nations.[29] In these languages, latino, just like any other demonym, is by convention not capitalized."
SouthLand, in my opinion Latin is not necessarily from Central/South America. Latin is related to the Latin language. Therefore, any language that is derived from Latin such as Portuguese, French, Italian etc are Latin. And so are the people who speak their language. I suppose because there are so many more Spanish speaking people than the other languages, it is just assumed that when one speaks of a Latin person they are referring to a Spanish speaking person. Not really fair to the rest of the Latins out there, though (like me : )).
Below, from Wikipedia:
"Latino (feminine latina) in the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, literally translates as "Latin". For example, Portuguese dictionaries define the demonym latino to refer to natives of Romance-speaking nations influenced by Roman civilization, and to the natives or inhabitants of ancient Latium (modern Lazio).[25][26] Italian dictionaries define the demonym latino as: the ancient Latins and Romans, and their language, Latin, as well as the neo-Latin nations.[27][28] The dictionary of the Real Academia Española defines ten meanings for latino, including the ancient peoples of Latium and the modern Romance-speaking European and American nations.[29] In these languages, latino, just like any other demonym, is by convention not capitalized."