Why does Latin America called "Latin" where in fact it doesn't speak Latin at all?

because they speak spanish from the latin language

1) "Latin America (Portuguese and Spanish América Latina, French: Amérique Latine) is the region of the Americas where Romance languages, those derived from Latin (particularly Spanish and Portuguese), are primarily spoken. Latin America is contrasted with the lesser known term Anglo-America, that region of the Americas where English predominates."

"There are several definitions of Latin America, none of them perfect or necessarily logically consistent"

"Originally a political term, Amérique latine was coined by French emperor Napoleon III, who cited Amérique latine and Indochine as goals for expansion during his reign. While the term helped him stake a claim to those territories, it eventually came to embody those parts of the Americas that speak Romance languages initially brought by settlers from Spain, Portugal and, to a minor extent, France in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. An alternate etymology points to Michel Chevalier, who mentioned the term in 1836.

In the United States, the term was not used until the 1890s, and did not become a common descriptor of the region until early in the twentieth century. Before then, Spanish America was more commonly used"
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America


2) "Their languages developed from Latin
The term was coined in the 1860s when the French Emperor Napoleon III was trying to extend French imperial control over the whole region.

He and his ministers used the term to try to suggest at least some degree of cultural similarity throughout the region and with France.

The region consists of people who speak Spanish, Portugese and French.

These languages (together with Italian and Romanian) developed from Latin during the days of the Roman Empire and the Europeans who speak them are sometimes called 'Latin' peoples. Hence the term 'Latin America.' "
Source and further information:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_Latin_America_called_'Latin'_America

Spanish, Italian, and French are the languages which are most closely descended from Latin.

Just another attempt by people who speak English to oversimplify a culturally diverse group of several million people.

Latin America comes from the language root of Spanish, so its speakers are called latinos in some areas... i.e. where they live is called latin america

The two dominant languages in Latin America are Spanish and Portuguese, which both derive from Latin. Strictly speaking, the French-speaking parts of Canada and the Caribbean should also be included, but generally are not as the term is usually used to describe Mexico, and Central and South America only.

There languages derive from romantic languages (based on Latin) hence Latin America.

Didn't Dan Quayle ask the very same question once? Or is that legend?