These are abstract from Wikipedia:
The difference between the terms
Hispanic and
Latino is sometimes misunderstood.
Hispanics are people from any Spanish-speaking country (including
Spain).
Latinos are people from any Spanish-speaking or Portuguese-speaking
Latin American country. Thus, the term
Latino includes anyone from
Brazil, while the term
Hispanic does not. Therefore, a
Mexican American or
Cuban American, for example, is both a Hispanic and a Latino, whereas a
Brazilian American is not Hispanic, and is instead Latino.
Preference between the terms amongst Hispanics and Latinos depends on geography. Those in the Eastern United States tend to prefer the term
Hispanic, whereas those in the West tend to prefer
Latino (or
Chicano if they are
Mexican American).
[12] Neither term refers to
race, as a person of Latino or Hispanic origin can be of any race