Latin America includes those countries in South, Central and North America where Spanish or Portuguese is the official or most common language. Although the term is sometimes used in the United States to refer to the entire region of the Americas to the south, it is more properly a cultural or linguistic term. It is not precisely defined, but does not include the United States of America, Canada, or Caribbean islands where English and/or local languages are dominant. (French-speaking nations are sometimes included, as the language is Latin-based, but this isn't the usual sense of the term.)