Louisiana

State of Louisiana État de Louisiane Flag of Louisiana Seal of Louisiana State nickname: Pelican State Official languages None; English and French de facto Capital Baton Rouge Largest city New Orleans at last official government census, but probably Baton Rouge since Hurricane Katrina Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) Senators Mary Landrieu (D) David Vitter (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 31st 134,382 km² 16 Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 22nd 4,468,976 39.61/km² (22nd) Admission into Union April 30, 1812 (18th) Time Zone Central: UTC-6/-5 Coordinates  - Latitude  - Longitude  - Width  - Length 29°N to 33°N 89°W to 94°W 210 km 610 km Elevation  - Highest point  - Mean  - Lowest point 163 m 30 m -2.5 m Abbreviations  - USPS  - ISO 3166-2 LA US-LA Web site www.louisiana.gov

Louisiana State Quarter (reverse)

Louisiana (pronounced /luːˌiːziˈænə/ or /ˌluːziˈænə/) (French: Louisiane, pronounced /lwizjan/) is a Southern state of the United States of America.

It uses the U.S. postal abbreviation LA. The state 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. Among the states, Louisiana has a unique culture, owing to its French colonial heritage. While the state has no declared "official language," its law recognizes both English and French. Today, English is by far the main language of everyday life, but French is spoken by nearly 5% of the population and its influence can be seen in local dialects and in many place names.

History

Louisiana was inhabited by Native Americans when European explorers arrived in the 17th Century and settlement and colonization began in the 18th Century. Some current place names, including Atchafalaya, Natchitouches (now spelled Natchitoches), Caddo, Houma, Tangipahoa, and Avoyel (Avoyelles), are from Native American dialects.

Several native tribes inhabited the region (using current parish boundaries to describe approximate locations):^[1]

• The Atakapa in southwestern Louisiana in Vermilion, Cameron, Lafayette, Acadia, Jefferson Davis, and Calcasieu parishes.
• The Chitimacha in the southeastern parishes of Iberia, Assumption, St Mary, lower St. Martin, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Bo St. Charles, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines.
• The Bayougoula, part of the Choctaw nation, in areas directly north of the Chitimachas in the parishes of St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Livingston, and St. Tammany.
• The Houma in East and West Feliciana, and Pointe Coupee parishes (about 100 miles north of the town named for them).
• The Avoyel, part of the Natchez nation, in parts of Avoyelles and Concordia parishes along the Mississippi River.
• The Tunica in northeastern parishes of Tensas, Madison, East Carroll and West Carroll.
• The remainder of central and north Louisiana was home to a substantial portion of the Caddo nation.

Exploration and settlement

The first European explorers to visit Louisiana came in 1528. The Spanish expedition (led by Panfilo de Narváez) located the mouth of the Mississippi River. In 1541 Hernando de Soto's expedition crossed the region. Then Spanish interest in Louisiana lie dormant. In the late 17th Century, French expeditions, which included sovereign, religious and commercial aims, established a foothold on the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast. With its first settlements, France laid claim to a vast region of North America, and set out to establish a commercial empire and French nation stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada.

The French explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle named the region Louisiana to honor France's King Louis XIV in 1682. The first permanent settlement, Fort Maurepas (at what is now Ocean Springs, Mississippi, near Biloxi), was founded by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, a French military officer from Canada, in 1699.

The French colony of Louisiana originally claimed all the land on both sides of the Mississippi River and north to French territory in Canada. The settlement of Natchitoches (along the Red River in present-day northwest Louisiana) was established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis, making it the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory. The French settlement had two purposes; to establish trade with the Spanish in Texas, and at the same time, to deter Spanish advances into Louisiana. Also, the northern terminus of the Old San Antonio Road (sometimes called El Camino Real, or Kings Highway) was at Natchitoches. The settlement soon became a flourishing river port and crossroads, giving rise to vast cotton kingdoms along the river. Over time, planters developed large plantations and built fine homes in a growing town, a pattern repeated in New Orleans and other places.

Louisiana's French settlements contributed to further exploration and outposts, concentrated along the banks of the Mississippi and its major tributaries, from Louisiana to as far north as the region called the Illinois Country, around Peoria, Illinois and present-day Saint Louis, Missouri. See also: French colonization of the Americas

Initially Mobile, Alabama and Biloxi, Mississippi functioned as the capital of the colony; recognizing the importance of the Mississippi River to trade and military interests, France made New Orleans the seat of civilian and military authority in 1722. From then until the Louisiana Purchase made the region part of the United States on December 20, 1803, France and Spain would trade control of the region's colonial empire.

Most of the territory to the east of the Mississippi was lost to Great Britain in the French and Indian War, except for the area around New Orleans and the parishes around Lake Pontchartrain. The rest of Louisiana became a colony of Spain by the Treaty of Fontainebleau of 1762.

Although Spain presided over Louisiana for about the same amount of time as France, Spain held the territory during its later, more rapid development. Still, French immigration and cultural influences had a lasting effect. During the period of Spanish rule, several thousand French-speaking refugees from the region of Acadia made their way to Louisiana following British expulsion; settling largely in the southwestern Louisiana, the Acadian refugees were welcomed by the Spanish, and descendants came to be called Cajuns.

In 1800, France's Napoleon Bonaparte acquired Louisiana from Spain in the Treaty of San Ildefonso, an arrangement kept secret for some two years.

Then in 1803, Bonaparte sold the territory to the United States, which (see Louisiana Purchase) divided it into two territories: the Orleans Territory (which became the state of Louisiana in 1812) and the District of Louisiana (which consisted of all the land not included in Orleans Territory). The Florida Parishes were annexed from Spanish West Florida by proclamation of President James Madison in 1810. The western boundary of Louisiana with Spanish Texas remained in dispute until the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819, with the Sabine Free State serving as a neutral buffer zone as well as a haven for criminals.

From its time as a possession of France, Louisiana retains a civil law legal system, based on the Louisiana Civil Code, which is similar to (and often confused with) the Napoleonic Code (like France, and unlike the rest of the United States, which uses a common law legal system derived from England). Also derived from French governance is the use of the term "parishes" in place of "counties" for the subdivisions of government.

In 1849 the state moved the capital from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. Donaldsonville, Opelousas, and Shreveport have briefly served as the seat of Louisiana state government.

Louisiana was a slave state. It also had one of the largest free black populations in the United States. Some free blacks in Louisiana were themselves slave owners; some accounts say the state's population of slave-owning blacks was among the largest in the country.

In the American Civil War, Louisiana seceded from the Union on January 26, 1861. New Orleans was captured by Federal troops on April 25, 1862. Because a large part of the population had Union sympathies (or compatible commercial interests), the Federal government took the unusual step of designating the areas of Louisiana under federal control as a state within the Union, with its own elected representatives to the U.S. Congress.

Louisiana in the 21st Century

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck and devastated southeastern Louisiana, while damaged levees in New Orleans flooded the city. The city was essentially closed until October. Estimates are that more than two million people in the Gulf region were displaced by the hurricane, with more than a thousand storm fatalities in Louisiana. The next month, southwestern Louisiana was struck by Hurricane Rita. In 2006 and beyond, Louisiana faces fiscal and social challenges that are unprecedented for any state in the history of the United States.

Law and government

The capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge. Its governor is Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (Democrat) and its two U.S. senators are Mary Landrieu (Democrat) and David Vitter (Republican). Louisiana has seven Members of Congress, five Republicans and two Democrats.

Louisiana is the only state whose legal system is based on Roman, Spanish, and French civil law as opposed to English common law. Technically, it is known as "Civil Law," or the "Civilian System." It is often incorrectly referred to as the "Code Napoléon" or The Napoleonic Code. It is important to note that the Louisiana Civil Code and the French Civil Code, often referred to as the Napoleonic Code, came into existence at roughly the same time. Louisiana was never governed by the Napoleonic Code.

Great differences still exist between Louisiana Civil Law and the Common Law found in her 49 sister states. While some of these differences have been bridged due to the strong influence of the Common Law in the United States,[2] it is important to note that the "Civilian" tradition is still deeply rooted in all aspects of Louisiana law. Property, contractual, and family law are still mostly based on traditional Roman legal thinking and have little in common with English law.

Louisiana is unique among U.S. states in its method for state, local, and congressional elections. All candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run in an open primary on Election Day. If no candidate has more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the highest vote total compete in a runoff election approximately one month later. This runoff does not take into account party identification; therefore, it is not uncommon for a Democrat to be in a runoff with a fellow Democrat or a Republican to be in a runoff with a fellow Republican. All other states use the First Past the Post electoral system to elect Senators, Representatives, and statewide officials.

Louisiana has a statewide police force called the Louisiana State Police. It began in 1922 and continues a rich tradition of "courtesy, loyalty, service." The troopers of Louisana State Police have statewide jurisdiction with power to enforce all laws of the state, including city and parish ordinances. Each year, troopers patrol over 12 million miles of roadway and arrest about 10,000 impaired drivers. Troopers are also responsible for investigating and managing the casino/gaming industry, all hazardous material incidents, anti-terrorism training and general criminal, narcotics and insurance fraud investigations. Louisiana State Police

Each parish in Louisiana has an elected sheriff, with the exception of Orleans Parish. It has two elected sheriffs - one criminal and one civil. The sheriffs are responsible for general law enforcement in their respective parish. Orleans Parish is an another exception to this rule as the general law enforcement duties fall to the New Orleans Police Department. The sheriff also controls and manages the parish jail and/or correctional facility. The sheriff is also the tax collector for each parish. LA Sheriff's Association Most parishes are governed by a Police Jury. Eighteen of the sixty-four parishes are governed under an alternative form of government under a Home Rule Charter. They oversee the parish budget and operate the parish maintenance services. This includes parish road maintenance and other rural services. LA Parish Government

Geography

Map of Louisiana

Topography

The surface of the state may properly be divided into two parts, the uplands, and the alluvial and coast and swamp regions. The alluvial regions, including the low swamps and coast lands, cover an area of about 20,000 square miles; they lie principally along the Mississippi River, which traverses the state from north to south for a distance of about 600 miles and ultimately emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, the Red River, the Ouachita River and its branches, and other minor streams. The breadth of the alluvial region along the Mississippi is from 10 to 60 miles, and along the other streams it averages about 10 miles. The Mississippi flows upon a ridge formed by its own deposits, from which the lands incline toward the low swamps beyond at an average fall of six feet per mile. The lands along other streams present very similar features. These alluvial lands are never inundated save when breaks occur in the levees by which they are protected against the floods of the Mississippi and its tributaries. These floods, however, do not occur annually, and they may be said to be exceptional. With the maintenance of strong levees these alluvial lands would enjoy perpetual immunity from inundation. The uplands and contiguous hill lands have an area of more than 25,000 square miles, and they consist of prairie and woodlands. The elevations above sea-level range from 10 feet at the coast and swamp lands to 50 and 60 feet 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, located in northwest Louisiana.

Besides the navigable rivers already named (some of which are called bayous), there are the Sabine, forming the western boundary, and the Pearl, the eastern boundary, the Calcasieu, the Mermentau, the Vermilion, the Teche, the Atchafalaya, the Boeuf, the Lafourche, the Courtableau, the D'Arbonne, the Macon, the Tensas, the Amite, the Tchefuncte, the Tickfaw, the Natalbany, and a number of other streams of lesser note, constituting a natural system of navigable waterways, aggregating over 4,000 miles in length, which is unequalled in the United States and probably in the world. The state also has 1,060 square miles of land-locked bays, 1,700 square miles of inland lakes, and a river surface of over 500 square miles.

Geology

The underlying strata of the state are of Cretaceous age and are covered by alluvial deposits of Tertiary and post-Tertiary origin. A large part of Louisiana is the creation and product of the Mississippi River. It was originally covered by an arm of the sea, and has been built up by the silt carried down the valley by the great river.

Near the coast, there are many salt domes, where salt is mined and oil is often found.

Owing to the extensive flood control measures along the Mississippi river and to natural subsidence, Louisiana is now suffering the loss of coastal land area. State and Federal government efforts to halt or reverse this phenomenon are under way; others are being sought.

Highways

Interstate highways:

• Interstate 10
• Interstate 12
• Interstate 20
• Interstate 49
• Interstate 55
• Interstate 59

There are proposed plans to extend Interstate 69 to the Texas/Mexico border, which will go through north-eastern Louisiana. Also, Interstate 49 is slated to be expanded north into Arkansas and east along Interstate 10 to New Orleans, replacing part of U.S. Highway 90.

United States highways:

Economy

The total gross state product in 2003 for Louisiana was $140 billion. Its Per Capita Personal Income was $26,312, forty-third in the nation. The state's principal agricultural outputs include seafood (It is the biggest producer of crawfish/crayfish in the world), cotton, soybeans, cattle, sugarcane, poultry and eggs, dairy products, and rice. Its industrial outputs include chemical products, petroleum and coal products, food processing, transportation equipment, paper products, and tourism.

Demographics

As of 2003, the state's population was 4,496,334, including approximately 215,000 native French-speakers.

The racial makeup of the state is:

• 62.5% White
• 32.5% Black
• 2.4% Hispanic
• 1.2% Asian
• 0.6% Native American
• 1.1% Mixed race

The five largest ancestries in the state are: African American (32.5%), French/French Canadian (16.2%), American (10.1%), German (7.1%), Irish (7%).

Blacks, who long made up the majority of the state's population in slavery days, dominate much of the southeast, central, and northern parts of the state, particularly those parishes along the Mississippi river valley. But, in recent years, the percentage of whites has experienced a growth due to all of the predominantly white senior citizens that have begun to relocate there because of the friendly atmosphere, mild winters, and beautiful scenery. Creoles of French and Spanish ancestry and Cajuns of French-Canadian ancestry are dominant in much of the southern part of the state. Whites of Southern U.S. background predominate in the hillier areas of northern Louisiana.

As of 2000, 91.2% of Louisiana residents age 5 and older speak English at home and 4.8% speak French. Spanish is the third most spoken language at 2.5%, followed by Vietnamese at 0.6% and German at 0.2%.

Religion

Like the other Southern states, Louisiana is mostly Protestant; however there is also a large native Catholic population in the state, particularly in the southern part of the state, which makes Louisiana unique among Southern states. The current religious affiliations of the people of Louisiana are shown in the table below:

• Christian — 90%
  • Protestant — 60%
    • Baptist — 38%
    • Methodist — 4%
    • Pentecostal — 2%
    • Other Protestant – 16%
  • Roman Catholic — 30%
  • Other Christian — 1%
• Other Religions — <1%
• Non-Religious — 10%

The New Orleans area has a small but significant Jewish community.

Cities, Towns, and Parishes

Cities with a population of over 10,000:

Five most populous parishes in Louisiana

1. Orleans Parish: pop.473,681
2. Jefferson Parish: pop.452,789
3. East Baton Rouge Parish: pop.412,008
4. Caddo Parish: pop.251,145
5. St. Tammany Parish: pop 201.462

Five least populous parishes in Louisiana

1. Tensas Parish: pop.6,493
2. Red River Parish: pop.9,592
3. Cameron Parish: pop.9,644
4. St. Helena Parish: pop.10,403
5. Catahoula Parish: pop.10,890

Parishes with highest Latino Population

1. Jefferson Parish 7.12%
2. Vernon Parish 5.92%
3. St. Bernard Parish 5.09%
4. Allen Parish 4.50%
5. Bossier Parish 3.15%

Parishes with highest White non-Hispanic Population

1. Livingston Parish 94.35%
2. Cameron Parish 93.65%
3. St. Bernard Parish 88.29%
4. La Salle Parish 86.13%
5. Grant Parish 85.43%

Parishes with highest African American population

1. East Carroll Parish 67.29%
2. Orleans Parish 67.25%
3. Madison Parish 60.45%
4. Tensas Parish 55.38%
5. St. Helena Parish 52.42%

Ten richest places in Louisiana

Ranked by per capita income

1. Mound: $92,200 (population 12, as of the 2000 census)
2. Oak Hills Place: $34,944
3. Elmwood: $34,329
4. Eden Isle: $31,798
5. Gilliam: $30,264
6. Shenandoah: $29,722
7. Westminster: $28,087
8. River Ridge: $27,088
9. Prien: $26,537
10. Mandeville: $26,420

Education

Colleges and universities

Bossier Parish Community College

Professional sports teams

As of 2005 Louisiana is nominally the least populous state with more than one major professional sports league franchise. However, the effects of Hurricane Katrina have forced the National Basketball Association's New Orleans Hornets to play their games in Oklahoma City for the 2005-06 season. The National Football League's New Orleans Saints are playing most of their 2005 regular season games in Baton Rouge, however the long-term future of that franchise is also uncertain.

Football

National Football League

• New Orleans Saints

Arena Football League

• New Orleans VooDoo

NWFL

• New Orleans Spice

NIFL

• Southwest Louisiana Swashbucklers (Lake Charles) - NIFL

AF2

• Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings - AF2

SAFL

• Baton Rouge Riverboat Bandits - SAFL
• Lake Charles RiverKats - SAFL
• Minden RoughRiders - SAFL
• Lafayette Bayou Bulls - SAFL
• Ruston Rage - SAFL
• Shreveport Steamers - SAFL
• Greater New Orleans Gladiators - SAFL
• Hammond Headhunters - SAFL
• Louisiana (Houma) Blazing Bulldogs - SAFL
• Central Louisiana Warriors - SAFL
• Slidell Steelsharks - SAFL

Defunct teams

• Shreveport Bombers - IPFL
• Louisiana Bayou Beast - IPFL

Baseball

• Minor League baseball teams
  • New Orleans Zephyrs
  • Shreveport Sports
  • Alexandria Aces
  • Baton Rouge River Bats
  • Houma Hawks
  • New Orleans Pelicans (1887-1959)
  • New Orleans Creoles (Negro League) (dates?)

Basketball

• National Basketball Association:
  • New Orleans Jazz (1974) team moved to Salt Lake City and became the Utah Jazz in 1979
  • The Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans in 2002 to become the New Orleans Hornets - Now known as The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (at least for 2005-06).

Hockey

• Minor League Hockey
  • Louisiana IceGators (1995 - 2005) - ECHL
  • Baton Rouge Kingfish (1996 - 2003) - ECHL
  • New Orleans Brass (1997 - 2003) - ECHL
  • Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs - CHL

Miscellaneous information

• State dog : Catahoula Leopard Dog
• State bird : Eastern Brown Pelican
• State flower : Magnolia
• State fossil : Petrified palmwood
• State tree : Bald Cypress
• State mammal : Louisiana Black Bear
• State wildflower : Louisiana Iris
• State reptile : American Alligator
• State insect: Honeybee
• State crustacean : Crawfish
• State amphibian: Green Tree Frog
• State food: Gumbo
• State songs: "You Are My Sunshine," "Every Man a King," and "Give Me Louisiana"
• State Tartan
• State drink: Milk
• State instrument: Diatonic Accordian
• State freshwater fish: Sac-au-Lait
• State Gemstone: Agate
• State Soil: Ruston
• State Colors: Blue, White, Gold
• State Pledge: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the state of Louisiana and to the motto for which it stands: A state, under God, united in purpose and ideals, confident that justice shall prevail for all of those abiding here.

The ancestors of Creoles generally came to Louisiana directly from France, Spain, or from the French colonies in the Caribbean and settled in New Orleans or in South Eastern Louisiana.

The ancestors of the Cajuns are the Acadians, a French-descended people of what are now New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada. When the British won the French and Indian War, the British forced all of the citizens to take a pledge of allegiance. Most Acadians declined and emigrated from Canada, most of them fleeing to the southwestern portion of Louisiana, centered in the region around Lafayette.

There is also a distinct Spanish-descended group in Louisiana. The Islenos are direct descendants of Canary Islanders forced to migrate by the Spanish King beginning in the mid-1770s. There were intended to help guard the eastern approaches to New Orleans from invasion by the British. They settled in what is modern-day St. Bernard Parish, in the river passes east of the city, along an old mouth of the Mississippi River which they named Terre aux Boeufs (literally "Land of Cattle" for the cattle living there). Many of their descendants remained insulated from the city, and continued to speak an archaic version of Spanish well into the 20th Century. They still maintain contacts with the Canary Islands, and have an annual "Caldo" festival named for a native dish.

For almost 20 years there was only one small amusement park in Louisiana, called Hamel's Amusement Park in Shreveport, which is now mostly closed. There is now a Six Flags in New Orleans East.

Since Louisiana is under constant threat from hurricanes, the Louisiana State Police are sponsoring a contraflow lane reversal program in order to evacuate the New Orleans metropolitan area as quickly as possible.

Louisiana's license plates include the motto "Sportsman's Paradise," which emphasizes the state's opportunities for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities. The motto is often used in state tourism campaigns.

References

1. ^ Sturdevent, William C. (1967): Early Indian Tribes, Cultures, and Linguistic Stocks, Smithsonian Institution Map (Eastern United States).

• Yiannopoulos, A.N., The Civil Codes of Louisiana (reprinted from Civil Law System: Louisiana and Comparative law, A Coursebook: Texts, Cases and Materials, 3d Edition; similar to version in preface to Louisiana Civil Code, ed. by Yiannopoulos)
• Rodolfo Batiza, The Louisiana Civil Code of 1808: Its Actual Sources and

Present Relevance, 46 TUL. L. REV. 4 (1971); Rodolfo Batiza, Sources of the Civil Code of 1808, Facts and Speculation: A Rejoinder, 46 TUL. L. REV. 628 (1972); Robert A. Pascal, Sources of the Digest of 1808: A Reply to Professor Batiza, 46 TUL. L. REV. 603 (1972); Joseph M. Sweeney, Tournament of Scholars Over the Sources of the Civil Code of 1808,46 TUL. L. REV. 585 (1972).

• Kinsella, N. Stephan, A Civil Law to Common Law Dictionary, 54 Louisiana Law Review 1265 (1994)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Louisiana

• Louisiana Superdome
• Avery Island

External links

• Official State of Louisiana website
• U.S. Census Bureau
• History of Louisiana
• Photos of Louisiana - Terra Galleria
• Louisiana Politics & News

	State of Louisiana
Capital:	Baton Rouge
Regions:	Acadiana | Florida Parishes | Greater New Orleans | Northwest Louisiana
Largest cities:	Alexandria | Baton Rouge | Bossier City | Houma | Kenner | Lafayette | Lake Charles | Metairie | Monroe | New Iberia | New Orleans | Shreveport
Parishes:	Acadia | Allen | Ascension | Assumption | Avoyelles | Beauregard | Bienville | Bossier | Caddo | Calcasieu | Caldwell | Cameron | Catahoula | Claiborne | Concordia | De Soto | East Baton Rouge | East Carroll | East Feliciana | Evangeline | Franklin | Grant | Iberia | Iberville | Jackson | Jefferson | Jefferson Davis | La Salle | Lafayette | Lafourche | Lincoln | Livingston | Madison | Morehouse | Natchitoches | Orleans | Ouachita | Plaquemines | Pointe Coupee | Rapides | Red River | Richland | Sabine | St. Bernard | St. Charles | St. Helena | St. James | St. John the Baptist | St. Landry | St. Martin | St. Mary | St. Tammany | Tangipahoa | Tensas | Terrebonne | Union |