Latin America, extending from the deserts of northern Mexico to the icy wilds of Tierra del Fuego in Chile and Argentina, encompasses many diverse countries and peoples. Though most of these countries are largely Catholic and Spanish-speaking, thanks to a shared history of colonization by Spain, they have at least as many differences as they do similarities with each other. In the United States the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” (or “Latina” for a woman; sometimes written as “Latinx” to be gender-neutral) __40__ in an attempt to loosely group immigrants and their descendants who hail from this part of the world. The terms are often used interchangeably, though the words can convey slightly different connotations. It is important to clarify that the categories refer only to a person’s origin and ancestry.
In general, “Latino” is understood as a shorthand for the Spanish word latino-americano and refers to anyone born in or with ancestors from Latin America and living in the U.S., __41__ Brazilians. “Latino” does not include speakers of Romance languages from Europe, such as Italians or Spaniards, and some people have argued that it excludes Spanish speakers from the Caribbean. Although people from French Guiana are sometimes accepted as Latino since French shares linguistic roots with Spanish and Portuguese, there is much debate about whether people from English-speaking Belize and Guyana and Dutch-speaking Suriname truly fit under the category since their cultures and histories are so distinct.
“Hispanic” is __43__ that includes people only from Spanish-speaking Latin America, including those territories of the Caribbean or from Spain itself. With this understanding, a Brazilian could be Latino and non-Hispanic, a Spaniard could be Hispanic and non-Latino, and a Colombian could use both terms. However, this is also an imperfect categorization, as there are many indigenous peoples from Spanish-speaking countries who do not __44__ Spanish culture and do not speak the dominant language.
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45. Sentence “To simplify matters, the 2010 U.S. Census listed both terms together and specifically mentioned the Spanish-speaking territories of the Caribbean but vaguely excluded non-Spanish speaking countries.” is best put in …