as a result of spanish europeans traveling to the new world and genetic mixing of european settlers with indigenous people. when european settlers began bringing african slaves to the new world it was the mixture of spanish european, indigenous, and african.

spanish were the first european settlers to travel to the new world. once the french and english saw how much it improved the spanish economy, they followed suit.

that's what my college prof told me.

when i was in middle school my teacher told me the LA times would not use the word "hispanic" in the newspaper. then i began to notice people on the west coast never really used the term "hispanic." i first heard the term "latino" in high school.

latino vs. hispanic is political, kinda like me deciding what to mark on demographic surveys: Filipino or Asian/Pacific Islander.

PS. Philippines was colonized by Spain & the Spanish settlers mixed with the indigenous people. The way England sent it's "prisoners" to Australia, Spain exiled it's undesirables to the Philippines who also mixed with the locals.