Latin America is the group of territories and countries in the
Americas where
Romance languages are spoken. The term originated in 19th century France to include
French-speaking territories in the Americas within the larger group of countries that speak
Spanish and
Portuguese. It is therefore marginally broader than the term Iberian America or
Spanish America, though it excludes French-speaking
Quebec. Latin America consists of twenty sovereign states and several territories and dependencies which cover an area that stretches from the southern border of the
United States to the southern tip of
South America, including the
Caribbean. It has an area of approximately 19,197,000 km (7,412,000 sq mi), almost 13% of the earth's land surface area.