Hispanics and Latinos in Florida

Hispanic and Latino Floridians are residents of the state of Florida who are of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. The statistics in the PEW report show that the justification of the definition of “Hispanic” is based on Spanish language in Latin America or if a person is from Spain, while Latino is based on Latin American origin disregarding people from Brazil or Portugal. The same study presented the findings 27% preferred to identify as “Hispanic” while 18% preferred the term “Latino”. The Census Bureau has changed its framed terminology towards the question since it was first introduced in 1930 as a “Mexican Race” option and it is still changing to this day to become more inclusive and specific to each person who identifies as Hispanic and/or Latino.^[1] Latinos in Florida accounted for 5.3 million (8 percent) of the US Latino population.^[2] At around 28.5% of the population as of 2017, Cubans are the largest Latino group in Florida. Puerto Ricans are one of the fastest growing Latino groups in Florida, with one out of every five Latinos in the state being of Puerto Rican origin. Cubans and Puerto Ricans together make up almost half of Florida's Latino population. Other sizable Latino groups include South Americans (17.9%), Mexicans (13.5%), Central Americans (10.7%), and Dominicans (4.8%); all other Latinos make up 3.6% in total.^[3]