"Latino" and "Hispanic" are interchangeable terms throughout most of America, used to predominately describe individuals who are descended from or who are from Spanish-speaking or Portuguese-language countries. But, if you live in certain states, like Texas, for instance, then the two terms very well might mean different things to you; and you undoubtedly have preference for one label over the other.

The Latino/Hispanic community is the largest ethnic minority in the United States, and continually growing. The fact that the Hispanic population is greatly on the rise, so has there been a growing desire for the largest minority group to figure out how they define themselves or identify, as the country, at large, is struggling to identify them, as well.

During the '70s, the government adopted the term "Hispanic," which was to include people from Mexico, Cuba and nations in Central and South America. "Hispanic," itself, is a descriptor that has been around for centuries, however. The term "Latino" was later introduced as a truncated word for "Latin American," and regards individuals from Spanish speaking Caribbean Islands or Central and South America.

"Officially, both terms are used by the U.S. federal government to describe this population, and many organizations, including the Pew Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project, use the terms interchangeably in publications," Pew Research Center's Mark Hugo Lopez writes. "However, among Hispanics themselves, many are ambivalent about the two terms."

Pew Research Center survey indicated that half of all Latino had no preference for either term. But, of those who do have a preference, they prefer "Hispanic" to "Latino" 2-1, especially in the states that have the largest Hispanic population in the US. And, a whooping half (46 percent) of Hispanic Texans prefer "Hispanic", and only 8 percent prefer "Latino." In California, the state with the largest Hispanic population, 17 percent prefer Latino and 30 percent are inclined toward "Hispanic".  For most other states, including Florida and New York, 31 percent prefer "Hispanic" and 17 percent prefer "Latino."

While it seems generally obviously that the term "Hispanic" is far more desired than the term "Latino," "Latino" is continuously used in literature, texts, official documents and other publications throughout the United States and the world. "Hispanic" is preferred because it is solely inclusive of people of Spanish descent, while the term "Latino only serves to askew data because if taken literally, the term includes Italians and other Europeans that consider themselves to be of Latin origin."