Hispanic (Spanish: Hispano, hispánico) is a word that originally meant a relationship to Hispania. This is the Iberian Peninsula and includes Portugal, Andorra, Gibraltar and Spain. Now the word is used with a more limited meaning.

In the United States, Hispanic and Latino are different ethnic categories. Hispanic simply means a person who comes from a country where Spanish is the official language, this includes Puerto Rico of the United States whereas Latino means a person who comes from a country in Latin America (which includes only Mexico of North America, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America).

• A person who has roots from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Honduras, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Panama is both Hispanic and Latino.

• A person who has roots from Spain and Equatorial Guinea is Hispanic, but not Latino.
• A person who has roots from Brazil, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Haiti, Saint Barthélemy, and Saint Martin is Latino, but not Hispanic.