Louisiana

State of Louisiana État de Louisiane
Flag of Louisiana Seal of Louisiana Nickname(s): Bayou State • Child of the Mississippi • Creole State • Pelican State • Sportsman's Paradise • Sugar State Motto(s): Union, justice, and confidence (Union, justice, et confiance • Lunyon, justis, et confyans)
Official language(s)	de jure: none de facto: English and French
Demonym	Louisianan
Capital	Baton Rouge
Largest city	New Orleans, Louisiana; usually New Orleans, Louisiana.[1][2][3]
Largest metro area	New Orleans metro area
Area	Ranked 31st in the US
- Total	51,885 sq mi (134,382 km²)
- Width	130 miles (210 km)
- Length	379 miles (610 km)
- % water	16
- Latitude	28° 56′ N to 33° 01′ N
- Longitude	88° 49′ W to 94° 03′ W
Population	Ranked 25th in the US
- Total	4,293,204 (2007 est.) [4]
- Density	102.59/sq mi  (39.61/km²) Ranked 24nd in the US
Elevation
- Highest point	Driskill Mountain[5] 535 ft  (163 m)
- Mean	98 ft  (30 m)
- Lowest point	New Orleans[5] -8 ft  (-2 m)
Admission to Union	April 30, 1812 (18th)
Governor	Bobby Jindal (R)
Lieutenant Governor	Mitch Landrieu (D)
U.S. Senators	Mary Landrieu (D) David Vitter (R)
Congressional Delegation	List
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Abbreviations	LA US-LA
Website	www.louisiana.gov

Louisiana portal

The State of Louisiana (IPA: /luːˌiːziːˈænə/ or /ˌluːziːˈænə/, French: État de Louisiane, pronounced [lwizjan] (help·info)) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. The capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge. The largest city and metropolitan area is New Orleans. The largest parish by population is Jefferson Parish, and the largest by land area is Cameron Parish. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties.

Some Louisiana urban environments have a multicultural, multilingual heritage, so strongly influenced by an admixture of 18th century French, Spanish and African cultures that they are something exceptional in the U.S. Before the American influx and statehood at the beginning of the 19th century, the territory of current Louisiana State had been a Spanish and French colony. In addition, the pattern of development included importing numerous Africans in the 18th century, with many from the same region of West Africa, thus concentrating their culture. Also, thousands of refugees arrived from Saint-Domingue in the early 1800s, many bringing slaves with them, also adding a strong new African influence on the culture, especially of southern Louisiana in and near New Orleans.

Namesake

Louisiana (New France) was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643-1715. When René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane, meaning "Land of Louis". Louisiana was once part of the Louisiana Territory which stretched from present-day New Orleans north to the present-day Canadian border. The territory was acquired in 1803 by the United States by the Louisiana Purchase. Part or all of 15 states were formed from the territory.

An alternative explanation of the name is that Louisiana is a combination of Louis XIV and his wife Anna of Austria. This, however, is false. While his mother was Anne of Austria, Louis XIV was married to Marie-Thérèse.

Geography

Map of Louisiana

Topography

Louisiana is bordered to the west by the state of Texas; to the north by Arkansas; to the east by the state of Mississippi; and to the south by the Gulf of Mexico.

The surface of the state may properly be divided into two parts, the uplands and the alluvial, including coast and swamp regions. The alluvial regions, including the low swamps and coast lands, cover an area of about 20,000 square miles (52,000 km²). They lie principally along the Mississippi River, which traverses the state from north to south for a distance of about 600 miles (1,000 km) and empties into the Gulf of Mexico; the Red River; the Ouachita River and its branches; and other minor streams (some of which are called bayous). The breadth of the alluvial region along the Mississippi is from 10 to 60 miles (15 to 100 km), and along the other rivers the alluvial region averages about 10 miles (15 km) across. The Mississippi River flows along a ridge formed by its own deposits (known as a levee), from which the lands decline toward the low swamps beyond at an average fall of six feet per mile (3 m/km). The alluvial lands along other streams present similar features.

The higher lands and contiguous hill lands of the north and northwestern part of the state have an area of more than 25,000 square miles (65,000 km²). They consist of prairie and woodlands. The elevations above sea level range from 10 feet (3 m) at the coast and swamp lands to 50 and 60 feet (15–18 m) at the prairie and alluvial lands. In the uplands and hills, the elevations rise to Driskill Mountain, the highest point in the state at only 535 feet (163 m) above sea level. Only two other states, Florida and Delaware, are geographically lower than Louisiana. Several other states, such as Kansas and Nebraska, are geographically flatter.

Besides the navigable waterways already named, there are the Sabine (Sah-BEAN), forming the western boundary; and the Pearl, the eastern boundary; the Calcasieu (KAL-cah-shoe), the Mermentau, the Vermilion, Bayou Teche, the Atchafalaya, the Boeuf (beff), Bayou Lafourche, the Courtableau, Bayou D'Arbonne, the Macon, the Tensas (TEN-saw), Amite River, the Tchefuncte (CHA-Funk-ta), the Tickfaw, the Natalbany, and a number of other smaller streams, constituting a natural system of navigable waterways, aggregating over 4,000 miles (6,400 km) in length. These waterways are unequaled in any other state of the nation. The state also has 1,060 square miles (2,745 km²) of land-locked bays; 1,700 square miles (4,400 km²) of inland lakes; and a river surface of over 500 square miles (1,300 km²).

Climate