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The term Hispanic, originally used by the U. S. Census Bureau to refer collectively to people of Latin American ancestry living in the United States, is gradually being replaced by the labels Latino (for men) and Latina (for women), commonly rendered Latinos collectively. According to the 1990 national census, there were approximately 22 million Latinos in the United States, constituting about 9 percent of the total population of the country. Overall, 26 percent of all Latino families in the United States fell below the poverty level, as compared with 10 percent of non-Latinos.