# Why is it called "Latin" America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-latin-america/314202 "2005-07-26T12:11:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thin\_Lizzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Thin\_Lizzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Lizzy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-latin-america/314202/1 "2005-07-26T12:11:56Z")
Why are South American countries called “Latin” countries? None of them speak or write in Latin, or as far as I can tell have anything to do with Latin… ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-latin-america/314202/2 "2005-07-26T12:18:09Z")
> [@Thin Lizzy](#): > > Why are South American countries called “Latin” countries? None of them speak or write in Latin, or as far as I can tell have anything to do with Latin… They speak, for the most part, Romance languages which are derived from Latin. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-latin-america/314202/3 "2005-07-26T12:19:43Z")
Then why isn’t Quebec also “Latin America”? ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-latin-america/314202/4 "2005-07-26T13:12:02Z")
The roman catholic church might be a factor also. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-latin-america/314202/5 "2005-07-26T14:08:21Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Then why isn’t Quebec also “Latin America”? Grouping and isolation. ---
**Author:** ![acadian\_driftwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@acadian\_driftwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acadian_driftwood)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-latin-america/314202/6 "2005-07-26T16:22:31Z")
[Cecil’s answer.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_327.html) I would just add that Napoelon III promoted the use of "Latin"America to emphasize the area’s similarities to “Latin” France, as opposed to Anglo-Saxon Britain and the United States. before the 1850s, the region was usually referred to in English as “Spanish America” (excluding Brazil), and in Spanish: Iberoamérica - which is still probably preferred in Spain. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-latin-america/314202/7 "2005-07-26T16:35:43Z")
Latin America, in practice, tends to include just the Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of the Americas, even though French is also a Romance language. Few really would really think of Haitians as “Latin Americans,” although Dominicans, from the same island of Hispaniola, certainly are. The few non-Spanish/Portuguese-speaking countries/territories of Central and South America (Belize, Guyana, Surinam, and French Guiana) are culturally and politically more closely related to the Caribbean than they are to their neighbors.