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Latin America is a cultural concept representing the Americas, where Romance languages emanated from Latin are primarily spoken.
The term refers to areas in the Americas ruled by the Spanish, Portuguese, and French empires formed in the 19th century doesn’t have a precise definition. Today, this term is typically used to describe South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean islands.
Nowadays, the population of Latin America and the Caribbean is assessed at over 652 million.
The map below shows the largest Latin American ancestry in Canada and the United States, created by Reddit user abu_doubleu.
Most Latin Americans in Canada are recent immigrants who arrived in the late 20th century, mainly from Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, and Peru, for political reasons.
Top 10 countries of origin of Latin Americans in Canada
Brazil is the top origin country of the Canadian Latin American immigrant population. In 2016, approximately 120,000 immigrants were living in Canada were from there.
Rank
Country
Number of Immigrants
Percent of Latin American Immigrants
Percent of the Total Immigrant Population
1
Brazil
120,000
6.8
0.4
2
Mexico
80,585
18.8
1.1
3
Colombia
70,035
16.4
0.9
4
El Salvador
48,075
11.2
0.6
5
Peru
29,620
6.9
0.4
6
Chile
26,705
6.2
0.4
7
Venezuela
20,775
4.9
0.3
8
Argentina
19,425
4.5
0.3
9
Cuba
17,850
4.2
0.2
10
Guatemala
17,270
4.0
0.2
Latin American Canadian population in Canada by metropolitan area
According to the 2021 Census, most Latin Americans in Canada live in Toronto and Montreal.
Most largest Hispanic groups in the U.S. are Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Spanish, Salvadoran, Dominican, Brazilian, Guatemalan, Colombian, or Venezuelan.
Top 10 countries of origin of Latin Americans in the United States
Mexico is the top origin country of the Latin American population in the United States. In 2018, roughly 37 million Latin Americans in the U.S. self-identified as Mexican.
Rank
Country / Territory
Population
Percentage
1
Mexico
36,986,661
61.89
2
Puerto Rico
9,033,381
15.12
3
Cuba
2,363,532
3.95
4
El Salvador
2,306,774
3.86
5
Dominican Republic
2,082,857
3.49
6
Colombia
2,023,341
3.38
7
Guatemala
1,524,743
2.55
8
Spain
1,500,000
2.5
9
Honduras
963,930
1.61
10
Ecuador
717,995
1.20
States and territories with the highest populations of Latin Americans
Of the U.S.’s total Latin American population, 49 percent, or 21.5 million, reside in California or Texas. In 2022, New York City and Washington, D.C. began receiving substantial Latin American migrants from Texas, mainly Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Honduras.
Rank
State / Territory
Population
Percentage
1
California
15,754,608
40%
2
Texas
11,857,387
40%
3
Florida
5,830,915
26%
4
New York
3,864,337
19%
5
Puerto Rico
3,249,043
99%
6
Arizona
2,351,124
32%
7
Illinois
2,277,330
18%
8
New Jersey
1,991,635
21%
9
Colorado
1,293,214
22%
10
New Mexico
1,059,236
50%
Over half of the Latin American population is settled in the Southwest region, mainly composed of Mexican Americans. California and Texas have some of the largest populations of Mexicans and Central American Hispanics in the U.S.
The country’s Northeast region is dominated by Dominican Americans and Puerto Ricans, having the highest concentrations of both in the U.S.
Salvadoran Americans are the largest Latin American group in the Mid-Atlantic region, centered on the D.C.
Mexicans and Puerto Ricans dominate in both the Great Lakes and the South Atlantic states.
Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans lead in Florida.
Mexicans dominate the rest of the nation, including the West, South Central, and Great Plains states.
