ABSTRACT
The cultural history and background of Latin America set it apart from the USA and Canada. Spaniards often refer to Latin Americans other than Brazilians as hispanoamericanos and to citizens of North America as norteamericanos. Strictly, ‘Latin’ refers to peoples with a language of Latin origin, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Romanian being the main ones. However, North America has strong Latin elements in the French-speaking province of Quebec in Canada and in the large and increasing population of Hispanics in the USA, especially in the Southwest states and in Florida and New York. A large number of Italian immigrants also entered the USA, mainly between 1870 and the First World War. Latin America has English-and Dutchspeaking populations in the Caribbean and the former Guiana colonies, modest footholds in the Spanish and Portuguese domains. Even so, the countries of Latin America have much in common with one another economically and culturally.
