the difference is

we've had a wonderful winter full of clementines. people walk in the door and grab one out of the fruit bowl on the table. so easy to peel, so tasty, the perfect snack. but it never fails, inbetween juicy segments of clementine, someone is sure to ask; "what's the difference between a clementine and a tangerine?". well my friends, i did a little research and here it is.

Clementine: "Similar to the tangerine/satsuma/mandarin, but worse basically." (i disagree with this statement). "A watered down version, one could say it is slightly 'off' when put up against the tangerine. Perhaps the best-known Mandarin by name, Clementines have been popular for years, especially in the eastern U.S. Their arrival in the markets in winter is cause for celebration. Clementines are all small to medium-size, very juicy, very sweet fruits. Typical ripening in coastal California (north and south) is January to mid-April; in inland California and Texas, it's November to January; and in low-elevation deserts it's November and December. In the early 1990s, growers in Spain, which holds almost a 90 percent share of the world's clementine export market, broadened their scope. By 1999 they had increased by 10 times the amount of fruit sent to the United States. Morocco is another great source for clementines. Clementines can be almost seedless or contain as many as 20 seeds, they will produce seeds if a pollinizer in nearby."

Tangerine: "Blissfully easy to peel compared to its cousin - the orange, this sweet fruit also tastes like one, but with a slightly less tangy flavor. There is barely any difference between the tangerine and satsuma. Both however are superior to the clementine. "Tangerine," it turns out, was a marketing term that has no bearing on actual varieties but is applied to many Mandarins and Mandarin hybrids. The tangerine is named after Tangier, the port from which the fruit was exported for many years. Tangerines generally have seeds; their skin is redder than that of a clementine".

for my researcher friends, feel free to add more information on the difference if you find anything else.