Languages Spoken in Latin America: Spanish, Portuguese, French

"Latin America" refers to the Americas where Romance languages (derived from Latin) predominate. The linguistic map is straightforward:

Spanish (español / castellano)

18 sovereign countries + Puerto Rico (US territory): Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela. (Equatorial Guinea in Africa also Spanish-speaking.)

Portuguese (português)

Brazil — sole Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas; 215M people (half of South America’s population).

French (français)

Haiti (co-official with Haitian Creole).
French Guiana (overseas department of France).
Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre & Miquelon (French territories).

Other Languages

• Indigenous: Quechua (10M), Guarani (6M, official in Paraguay), Aymara, Nahuatl, Maya languages, Mapudungun, etc.
• Creoles: Haitian Creole (12M), Papiamento (ABC islands), Sranan Tongo (Suriname).
• Immigrant: German (Plautdietsch), Italian, Japanese, Arabic, Chinese communities.
• English: Official in Belize, Guyana, Falklands; widely spoken in tourist/business sectors.

Why "Latin"?

Term coined 1850s (French: Amérique latine) to group Spanish/Portuguese/French colonies against "Anglo-Saxon" America. Linguistic, not geographic.