The region of Latin America, which is known as America Latina in Portuguese, Latinoamerica in Spanish, and Amerique latine in French, is a region of the Americas where the languages which have been derived from the Latin language, mainly Portuguese and Spanish are spoken mainly. These languages are known as Romance languages. The areas in which these languages are spoken primarily are the major parts of South and Central America, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico which is situated in the Caribbean, and Cuba. The other languages which are included in Romance languages are French and Creole languages. When the term Latin America was first made popular by Napoleon III during his campaign to make Maximilian the emperor of Mexico, it was after the languages.

When this explanation to define the area of Latin America is used, not only those areas which speak Portuguese and French are included, but those areas which are either former of current French areas such as Louisiana in the United States of America, French Guiana in South America, Quebec in Canada, Martinique as well as Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, Haiti, Miquelon, and St. Pierre, are included as well. In the United States of America the term Latin America is usually used to refer to all the areas which are situated to the south of the United States and are a part of the Americas. These areas include Jamaica, Guyana, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and Antigua and Barbuda.

The areas which are not considered to be a part of Latin America are the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, and Suriname which used to be a Dutch colony. Another way to define Latin America is by referring to all the areas which are a part of the Americas and were under the rule of the French, Portuguese, or Spanish Empires once. As per this definition, Florida, the Southwest region of the United States, and French Louisiana are included as well.