Latin America is a region of the Americas consisting of countries where the people speak Romance languages (languages that came from Vulgar Latin).

People do not completely agree as to which countries are in Latin America, but in most cases, it is made up of the parts where Spanish and Portuguese are spoken. This includes most of South America and Central America (sometimes also the Caribbean islands), and also Mexico in North America.

Others consider the places in the Americas (except those in Canada and the United States) which speak French to be part of Latin America, because it is also a Romance language.[5]

The following is a list of the ten largest metropolitan areas in Latin America.[3]

People in Latin America are part of several ethnic groups and races. The majority of Latin Americans are Mestizo and some others are Mulatto, Black, Zambo, and Asian.

Most of these ethnic groups can be found anywhere in Latin America; but since most Latin Americans are of mixed-race, many of these ethnic groups do not reach 100%.

Note: Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States.

Spanish and Portuguese are the most common languages in Latin America. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, while Spanish is the official language of most other Latin America mainland countries, and of Cuba, Puerto Rico (along with English), and the Dominican Republic.

Many people speak Native American languages in Peru, Guatemala, Bolivia, Paraguay and Mexico. These languages are less common in other countries, but in some countries like Bolivia, they are considered official along with the main European language.

Other Indo-European languages spoken in Latin America include English (mainly in Puerto Rico but also in Guyana), French (spoken in Haiti and French Guiana), and Dutch (in Suriname). Although French is also spoken in the Canadian province of Quebec and the American state of Louisiana, these countries are not considered part of Latin America because they are mostly English-speaking. Guyana, French Guiana (one of the overseas territories of France), and Suriname, which are found the northern part of South America and known together as the Guianas, are the only places in South America that do not speak Spanish or Portuguese.

Some African languages are also spoken in Latin America. The west African Yoruba language (known as Lucumi) is spoken in Cuba, where it is a ritual language used by the Santeria prayers.

In several nations, Creole languages are also spoken, especially in the Caribbean. Palenquero is the Spanish-based Creole language spoken in Colombia by some 3,000 people, it is Spanish with many African influences and some Portuguese influence. Other creoles in mainland Latin America have the same roots, blending Spanish with either African or Indigenous languages or both, as Cuban Spanish does. The island of Haiti also has a well-known creole language, called Haitian Creole.

Most Latin Americans are Christians. A 2014 survey found that 69% of Latin Americans are Roman Catholic, while 17% are Protestants. Most Protestants are from Brazil or Central America.

Poverty continues to be one of the biggest challenges for Latin American countries. According to estimates, Latin America is the most unequal region of the world. According to a Country Studies Institute the poorest countries in the region (in 2011) were: Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Honduras. Undernourishment affects 72% of Haitians, 47% of Nicaraguans and Bolivians, and 32% of Hondurans.

Also, according to the Country Studies Institute, over 90% of Haitians, 75% of Bolivians, 70% of Nicaraguans, and 63% of Hondurans live in poverty.