Latin America

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Latin America

Location in the Americas
Area	20,111,457 km2 (7,765,077 sq mi)[1]
Population	656,098,097 (2021 est.)[2][3][a] (3rd by political entity) (4th by continent)
Population density	31/km2 (80/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	Total: $14.071 trillion (2024)[4] (4th) Per capita: $21,684 (2024)[4] (63rd)
GDP (nominal)	Total: $6.7 trillion (2024)[4] (4th) Per capita: $10,042 (2024)[4] (81st)
Ethnic groups	40% Mixed Indigenous Amerindian and European heritage (Mestizo) 29% European heritage (White Latin Americans) 19% Mixed African and European heritage (Mulatto) 6% Indigenous peoples of the Americas 5% Afro–Latin Americans 1% Asian Latin Americans
Demonym	Latin American
Countries	20[c]  Argentina  Bolivia  Brazil  Chile  Colombia  Costa Rica  Cuba  Dominican Republic  Ecuador  El Salvador  Guatemala  Honduras  Mexico  Nicaragua  Panama  Paraguay  Peru  Puerto Rico[b]  Uruguay  Venezuela
Languages	96.9% Indo-European 95% Romance 60% Spanish (Castilian) 33% Portuguese 1% French and Haitian Creole 1% Italo-Dalmatian 0.05% Papiamento 1.5% Germanic 1% English and creoles 0.45% German 0.07% Dutch 0.4% Indo-Iranian 0.4% Caribbean Hindustani 1% Quechuan 1% Tupian 1% Guarani 0.90% Mayan 0.55% Eastern 0.45% Quichean 0.09% Mamean 0.25% Western 0.19% Cholan–Tzeltalan 0.06% Qʼanjobalan 0.10% Yucatec 0.40% Aymaran 0.30% Uto-Aztecan 0.25% Nahuatl 0.30% Oto-Manguean 0.06% Arawakan 0.06% Chibchan 0.06% Japanese 0.03% Araucanian
Time zones	UTC−03:00 to UTC−08:00
Largest cities	Largest urban areas: 1. São Paulo 2. Mexico City 3. Buenos Aires 4. Rio de Janeiro 5. Lima 6. Bogotá 7. Santiago 8. Caracas 9. Belo Horizonte 10. Monterrey
UN M49 code	419 – Latin America and the Caribbean 019 – Americas 001 – World

Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish and Portuguese.^[d] Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geography, and as such it includes countries in both North and South America. Most countries south of the United States tend to be included: Mexico and the countries of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Commonly, it refers to Hispanic America plus Brazil.^[5][6][7] Related terms are the narrower Hispanic America, which exclusively refers to Spanish-speaking nations, and the broader Ibero-America, which includes all Iberic countries in the Americas and occasionally European countries like Spain, Portugal and Andorra. Despite being in the same geographical region, English- and Dutch-speaking countries and territories are excluded (Suriname, Guyana, the Falkland Islands, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, etc.), and French-speaking countries and territories are usually excluded.^[8]

The term Latin America was first introduced in 1856 at a Paris conference titled, literally, Initiative of the Americas: Idea for a Federal Congress of the Republics (Iniciativa de la América. Idea de un Congreso Federal de las Repúblicas).^[e][9] Chilean politician Francisco Bilbao coined the term to unify countries with shared cultural and linguistic heritage. It gained further prominence during the 1860s under the rule of Napoleon III, whose government sought to justify France's intervention in the Second Mexican Empire.^[10]

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